Forty Millenniums of Cultivation - Chapter 575

Chapter 575: One Punch Is Enough!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Xiong Zhenzhen did not expect Li Yao’s weapon to be so sordid despite its simple and straightforward appearance. The strike was aiming at the blind spot on her back, and there was no time for her to block it with her swords. She frowned in anger.

However, she was an expert in the 79th level of the Refinement Stage after all, and her combat ability was close to that of a high-level Building Foundation Stage Cultivator. Faced with danger, she did not panic, but summoned her spiritual gas, which formed an invisible swirl behind her and stalled Li Yao’s sword.

In the meantime, her two soft swords shivered like two hissing vipers and swiped at Li Yao’s throat!

The dissected Scorpion’s Tail was controlled via the ropes and spiritual gas tubes. It relied on the swinging force to maximize the damage of the attack. But mired in Xiong Zhenzhen’s swirl, the tip of the sword was not able to move any further. Even though it managed to break through the swirl in the end, it would have lost all its momentum and could in no way pierce through Xiong Zhenzhen’s armor.

But Xiong Zhenzhen’s sword would penetrate through the gap between Li Yao’s helmet and breastplate within the next half second!

Right then, an earsplitting shriek burst out from the tip of Scorpion’s Tail. A long blue needle darted out from there!

As it turned out, the tip of Li Yao’s sword was hollow, in which a deadly venomous needle had been hidden. Now that it was ejected by high-pressure spiritual gas, it broke through the swirl instantly and crashed into Xiong Zhenzhen’s armor brutally!

Shua!

Three stabilizer fins as thin as paper opened up on the back of the needle. Exhaust flames squirted out and the needle started revolving rapidly!

The venomous needle was much thinner than a chopstick. Yet, Li Yao had been able to empty the back end of the needle and fill it with crystals, thereby transforming the needle into a super mini rocket!

Pushed by the gushing spiritual gas and the exploding crystals, the venomous needle revolved rapidly, drilled into Xiong Zhenzhen’s armor without trouble, and passed through her chest!

In the next moment, blood was spraying in the air!

Thankfully, since it was merely a test, Li Yao did not really smear deadly poison on the needle, nor had he aimed the needle at Xiong Zhenzhen’s heart. The needle pierced into her body but avoided her vital organs.

Otherwise, his attack could’ve blown up Xiong Zhenzhen’s heart directly!

Even so, Xiong Zhenzhen’s face still turned pale in shock. She grunted and fell out of the sky.

In the meantime, Li Yao sensed that a mountain, or more exactly, an erupting volcano, had moved below him!

He kicked Xiong Zhenzhen’s breasts mercilessly. With the counterforce and his surging spiritual gas, he altered his direction weirdly!

Where he had been about to land, four Wolf Fangs exploded at the same time, raising a raging tide of flames and chaos.

However, another Wolf Fang that was even larger had been tossed to his new direction and was rushing right in his face.

Li Yao did not even bother to blink. The result of the hard training over the past month was fully demonstrated. A huge amount of spiritual gas surged out of his right arm and tangled together like multiple white dragons. It formed an enormous shield three feet in front of his fists and smashed at the Wolf Fang!

BOOM!

A startling fireball was raised in midair, which Li Yao crawled out from. Although his armor was blackened, his speed was as high as before.

He had blown up a Wolf Fang directly!

“Excellent!”

Earsplitting roars were echoing on the ground. Shi Meng, captain of the Iron Bears Detonation Team, couldn’t have been more excited. He squatted deeply. Spiritual gas surged out crazily from his legs as if he had bound two shrieking True Qi trains to them!

He exerted his strength. Centering at his feet, a vast spider net of cracks that looked like a super weird rune array appeared instantly on the ground covering fifty square meters!

Huala!

The ground within fifty square meters was pressed down brutally by his spiritual gas. A shallow pit more than half a meter deep had been left!

Shi Meng soared to the sky like a rocket and punched. Squeaking noises were resounding in front of him. Even the air turned extremely fuzzy!

Li Yao’s eyes were bloodshot, his face hideous, while he shouted like the primordial beasts had.

If he were to take off his armor, everybody would be able to see that the muscles all over his body were bouncing crazily like furious flames. Those on his back had even formed an angry face of fire!

“Hu!”

Li Yao punched, too. White light seemed to appear on the edge of his fist as the air had been compressed to the point that it was about to explode!

Iron fist versus iron fist!

For a moment, all the members of the Iron Bears Detonation Team held their breath and stopped moving, waiting for the result of the collision dumbly.

One of them was the super strong man Shi Meng, who boasted the most physical strength in his generation of the Furious Bears Tribe, while the other one was a mysterious monster who could withstand spiritual gas set to fifty times the standard pressure. At this moment, even the most experienced teammates of the Iron Bears Detonation Team were not certain that their captain would be the final winner!

BOOM!

Before the fists of the two parties collided, the air currents raised by them had crashed heavily, leading to a visible blast that rippled out rapidly like manic gales!

Brightness resembling flames were vaguely blinking on them. It was not spiritual energy but their hot, mad, unstoppable fighting will!

The fighting will enchanted Li Yao’s soul and bewildered his mind. Giant gaps were appearing on the plate of his right arm, revealing countless reckless silver iron balls inside.

It was not until the last moment that Li Yao’s head was clear briefly again. He managed to lock his armor again, but his movements were disrupted as a result.

BOOM!

An explosion that seemed to suggest that a weapon factory had exploded broke out between the two fists.

Due to the 0.1 seconds of delay, Shi Meng’s spiritual gas flooded out and swallowed Li Yao instantly.

Everybody felt that their head was dizzy. Then, they saw that Li Yao was blown away like a kite whose string had been cut off before he hit the ground brutally. The flag that he’d been carrying had fallen some twenty meters away.

They were dazed for almost three seconds, before they realized what had happened and lunged at the flag after a shout.

Li Yao did not come back to himself until ten seconds later. He shook his head hard but still felt that his ears were ringing. He blinked slowly, but the ground was still leaning toward the left.

What an impressive punch!

His spiritual gas pierced into my armor, muscles, and bones and attacked my internal organs and cerebrum directly!

Although I am not wounded on the surface, my internal organs and my cerebrum are vibrating at a high frequency inside my body!

My cerebrum is bashing my skull in each direction. I feel that somebody is smashing my head with a giant hammer more than ten times per second right now. His one punch has resulted in a severe brain concussion. If it were someone else, they would’ve been beaten into a coma or killed on the spot!

Captain of the Iron Bears Detonation Team, Shi Meng…

Li Yao sat on the ground for over half a minute before he staggered to the edge of the test field, where he sat down and took a long breath in relief. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

The battle was truly entertaining and gratifying!

He tried his best to hold back his nausea and observed the competition between the two elite teams quietly.

Xiong Zhenzhen’s lung had been punctured by him, and she had lost most of her combat ability. The Iron Bears Detonation Team took the advantage and attacked under the lead of Shi Meng. Eventually, they brought the flag back to their home camp.

The test was ended!

However, there were no cheers on the winning side, and those who failed were not depressed, either. Everybody was staring at Li Yao in shock and respect.

Although he had been defeated in the end, he had put down more than ten elites by himself and almost finished the captain of the Fierce Storm Assault Team.

It was also safe to say that his defeat was because of Xiong Zhenzhen and Shi Meng’s collaboration.

Such a failure was definitely worth being proud of. They were both shocked and amazed!

Xiong Zhenzhen and Shi Meng walked forward and eyed Li Yao in a complicated way.

“You went easy on me just now.”

Due to the huge loss of blood, Xiong Zhenzhen’s lips were somewhat pale. She was still in a trance right now and could not believe what had just happened.

“It’s just a test,” replied Li Yao with a coarse voice and weird tone.

After a month of interaction, he had picked up the accent of the Iron Plateau natives a bit. However, he did not dare speak as fast he used to and could only utter a sentence word by word. Thankfully, there were not many traces of the space residents in his words, although they did sound somewhat different to the natives’ ears.

“It’s been a long time since I last enjoyed such a satisfying match! The strength of your fists is only slightly lower than that of mine!”

Shi Meng burst out into laughter contentedly. He extended his hands to Li Yao as he remarked, “Your name is Sand Scorpion? You are truly an expert. Welcome to the Furious Bears Tribe. We are lucky to have you to fight side by side with us to challenge the apocalypse!”

Li Yao hesitated briefly. Then he grinned and extended his hand, too.

…

An hour later, in a desolate factory on the west side of the weapon factory…

It was the place where the previous weapon factory had been established more than five decades ago. But the factory had been burnt to the ground in an accident and abandoned ever since. When Li Yao proposed to build his own armor, Xiong Wuji asked someone to clean up the area and install several simple tools. It was Li Yao’s shabby refining chamber right now.

The Sky Scorpion Armor that Li Yao built was almost exclusively based on the ancient techniques forty thousand years ago that did not demand much on the facilities. Therefore, he could make do with what he had.

In front of the giant mirror, Li Yao examined the Sky Scorpion Armor with great satisfaction. But an urge popped up in his mind again when he thought of the fierce battle previously.

The heritage of the Titan Warriors is indeed terrifying. It can soak people in the pleasure of killing all the time. No wonder so many experts of the Furious Bears Tribe became mentally deranged and slaves to their killing intent.

My brain went blank when I was enjoying the fight just now. I almost couldn’t help but perform ‘that move’ before my fist and Shi Meng’s fist collided!

Thankfully, I didn’t. Otherwise…

Four metal statues were placed in the middle of the debris. The more Li Yao thought of the punch previously, the more untamable the fighting will deep in his bones got. He suddenly blinked to the front of one of the metal statues. He crouched, with his legs widened like a long bow, before he put his right arm behind his back. The plate on his right arm revealed a crack from which nine iron balls rolled out. The iron balls were concentrated on the surface of his fist controlled by his spiritual gas!

The nine iron balls were, in fact, mini crystal bombs with magnetic shells. They could be absorbed to the surface of the armor and roll around without falling.

“EXPLODE!” Li Yao bellowed and punched the chest of the metal statue brutally with his right fist.

The nine mini crystal bombs were immediately detonated. But before their damage was fully triggered, it had been wreathed by the trailing wind resulting from the punch and pierced through the chest of the metal statue like a focused, super-compressed magma!

BOOM!

The punch mixed with the damage of nine crystal bombs did not stop until it reached dozens of meters away. The upper half body of the metal statue had been completely destroyed, and a valley more than half a meter deep had appeared in the ground.

It looked as if a meteorite had brushed past the ground. Hot steam was still popping up nonstop!

The strength of his iron fist together with the damage of the crystal bombs was so overwhelming!

Taking a deep breath, Li Yao looked at the traces left by his previous punch in fulfilment and finished his thought.

Otherwise, Shi Meng wouldn’t be able to join the battle of apocalypse!

Translator’s Thoughts

 flycrane01

Hi, guys. In case you have forgotten, here’s our incentive plan. The power ranking of the novel at the end of each week decides the number of chapters to be published next week.

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Chapter 576: Charging at the Apocalypse!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

At midnight, deep below the temple of techniques, inside Xiong Wuji’s personal training chamber…

Bright silver starry brightness was blinking vaguely on the Black Star Stone floor that was as deep and dark as ink, as if the night sky had been reversed and paved on the ground.

Li Yao was standing right on the ‘night sky’. He was wearing a pair of pure white linen pants, and his upper body was naked. His eyes were half close, his breath long and stable. Spiritual gas leaked through the pores all over his body and spread out like ripples. The furthest had reached more than thirty meters away.

The field of spiritual gas around him was now 77 meters in diameter, suggesting that he was in the 77th level of the Refinement Stage!

Li Yao suddenly opened his half-closed eyes and took a deep breath. His chest rose high, almost expanding to double its size.

All the air inside the training chamber seemed to be absorbed by him!

As he took in the air, the spiritual gas around his body also marched at his heart unstoppably under the motivation of his muscles and veins!

Crushing the Black Spider Death Curse with spiritual gas of the 77th level!

The black tattoo on Li Yao’s chest was writhing and wriggling like snakes that were burnt by fire. It was fleeing toward the deeper part of his heart with haste!

Li Yao grunted and fell to one knee, smashing a tile of the floor into pieces, before he vomited a mouthful of black blood.

The splashing blood shivered like an evil creature and did not die down for a long time.

Still can’t.

But the Black Spider Death Curse has been somewhat moved. I can sense its… fear!

Li Yao grimaced and stopped attacking. He dispersed his spiritual gas evenly around his body to nurture his muscles and veins.

Although the previous trial had not worked out, the reaction of the Black Spider Death Curse had given him new hope. He would definitely be able to break through all the shackles as long as the spiritual gas inside his body was stronger!

Xiong Wuji’s surprised voice came over. “One month ago, I never would’ve believed that anybody could break into the 77th level of the Refinement Stage from the 14th level, nor would I have expected that a qi-trainer in the 77th level could heavily wound Xiong Zhenzhen and almost draw with Shi Meng.”

Li Yao lowered his head, watching the tattoo on his chest reappearing, as he replied confidently, “My capability was close to the peak of the Building Foundation Stage in the beginning. Gauged in the metrics of Iron Plateau, it was well above the 90th level of the Refinement Stage. It’s just that my heart has been locked by the Black Spider Death Curse, and I cannot liquefy my spiritual energy.

“However, my brain, my limbs, and all my internal organs except for my heart are all in the Building Foundation Stage.

“So, I did not break into the 77th level of the Refinement Stage in the past month; I merely trained myself crazily in the qi-trainers’ way and learned to wield the same strength inside my body in a different form!

“It’s a shame that one month is still too short. If I had three months, I might have been able to reach strength equivalent to the peak of the Building Foundation Stage while at the Refinement Stage. Chances are that I would have made it into the 95th level of the Refinement Stage or even higher!”

Li Yao was enticed by the idea.

Now that he was in the 77th level of the Refinement Stage, he had sensed clearly that his combat ability was not far from when he was in the high level of the Building Foundation Stage.

Based on the deadly skills and the technique to release his killing intent that he had learned in the Titan Illusionary Land, together with the instantaneous damage when his spiritual gas burst out, his combat ability was even surpassing that of the old days.

He pondered for a long time and concluded that, although he seemed to be at a lower Cultivation level right now, he had in fact only switched to a different combat mode!

Manipulating the spiritual energy in the gas form was one combat mode, and manipulating that in the liquid form was another. There were no rules that the latter was necessarily stronger than the former.

But Li Yao was still desperate to know how strong he would become if when he was able to switch between the two combat modes freely at will or even combine them into one after he resolved the Black Spider Death Curse!

Thinking about that, Li Yao said earnestly, “Thank you very much, Chief Xiong. I don’t think every native of Iron Plateau would be so open-minded and unbiased as to provide all their secret training techniques generously for a space resident!”

Xiong Wuji smiled casually. “The apocalypse is coming. The more top warriors we have in our tribe, the more likely we will be able to survive. In the critical times of life and death, prejudice is the least of my concerns.

“Moreover, it was quite a fair deal that we made. The modification plans of sonic swords and Wolf Fangs that you offered left a deep impression on the refiners in the weapon factory. They said that the overall combat ability of the tribe will be significantly increased when the new weapons are manufactured and equipped.

“Your contribution in that regard alone is enough for me to trade any secret techniques with you.”

Li Yao shook his head slightly.

They were both well aware that the value of the secret arts was not the most important factor in the exchange of knowledge. The most important factor was that, in the eyes of Iron Plateau natives, the techniques of qi-trainers were supreme and unparalleled. Xiong Wuji had definitely risked a lot of things and held back tremendous pressure when he decided to let an outsider learn their ultimate secrets before he knew enough about him.

Li Yao stared at him in the eyes and said solemnly, “Chief Xiong, thank you for your trust. Tomorrow, you will know that you’ve made the right call.”

Xiong Wuji smiled and said, “Tell me, Li Yao. Are Cultivators in space all like you?”

Li Yao lowered his head. It took him quite a long time to consider the question.

When Li Yao raised his head again, there was delight deep down his eyes, as he observed, “There are countless Cultivators in space. Of course, their personalities are different. Some of them are brave, some craven; some are selfish, some altruistic. I can’t tell which personality has the advantage in number.

“However, I have encountered many people who are like me. A great many of them.”

Xiong Wuji said, “That will be great.”

He raised his head and gazed at the dark ceiling. His eyes seemed to be piercing dozens of floors over his head into the sky and capturing the shining stars. He was apparently deep in thought, but there was no telling what he was thinking of.

Right then, with a ‘BAM’ sound, the door of the training chamber was bashed open, and a thin young man staggered inside.

It was Wu Mayan!

The hair all over his body was trembling. Even his teeth were clattering. It took him forever before he summoned enough strength and shouted in a voice that was entirely different from usual, “Father Xiong, you said that I would be allowed to join the battle against the apocalypse as long as I completed the training plan that Uncle Sand Scorpion arranged for me. You won’t go back on your word, will you?”

Xiong Wuji was dazed. “You’ve completed it?”

Wu Mayan grinned, his every tooth glittering, “I have! You can ask Master Fu Dong if you want. My movements were as standard as in a textbook, and I took absolutely no shortcuts—”

While he was talking, he suddenly faltered and fell backward to the ground. Snoring sounds came one second later.

Xiong Wuji looked at Li Yao and said, “I thought that the training plan you arranged for him was incompletable.”

Li Yao frowned as he stared at the young man who was crouching on the ground and replied, “It is.”

…

The next day at noon, the sun was hot, and the sandstorm was raging.

“Haha. The young genius Wu Mayan finally gets to play his part in the battle of the apocalypse now! Father Xiong was the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau. I’m going to surpass him and become the new best warrior of Iron Plateau in the future!”

Wu Mayan danced excitedly on his single tank and almost fell off. Two flags of the Furious Bears Tribe were fluttering behind the vehicle.

Li Yao was driving a single tank next to him. The tank had been added with the shells of the Emperor Sand Scorpions.

They were the trophies that he had gotten when he saved Wu Mayan.

The curved shells of the Emperor Sand Scorpions could make the surface of the single tank streamlined and reduce the friction of the wind. They could also protect the key parts so that they would not be affected by the sand in the desert.

At first glance, the single tank was an Emperor Sand Scorpion that was lurking in the sand. The rams at the front of the vehicle had been replaced by two giant scorpion claws, which protruded out from the two sides of the tank.

At the rear of the single tank, two scorpion tails were raised high and aimed at the front.

They were two True Qi cannons decorated with shells from the tails of the Emperor Sand Scorpions as if they were real scorpion tails.

The awe-inspiring single tank made Li Yao look intimidating and dominating. Wu Mayan also found it difficult to move his eyes away from it.

Li Yao had promised that he would craft an even better one for him after the battle of the apocalypse.

Single tanks were fastest. A bunch of iron knights were charging in the lead like the sharpest arrowheads.

Behind them, smoke was soaring like a sandstorm. Earsplitting fulminations of spiritual gas made the ground slightly tremble.

Thousands of True Qi tanks, carrying tens of thousands of qi-trainers, turned the desolate land into a simmering ocean.

In the middle of the pack were many enormous True Qi beasts that were almost twenty meters tall. They were like moving fortresses with countless exhaust tubes standing behind them from which dragons of smoke were rushing.

Many other heavy True Qi tanks were carrying large, fully-enclosed iron boxes. Nonstop bashing sounds could be heard from the boxes, as if the most ferocious animals had been locked in them!

The Furious Bears Tribe only had a population of several million, and yet there were tens of thousands of qi-trainers among them, meaning that one person in every hundred people had the opportunity to become a qi-trainer.

Such a ratio was much higher than the odds of ordinary people in the outside world awakening their spiritual roots. It was a result of being eliminated and filtered in the harsh environment for five thousand years.

The qi-trainers marched forward toward northwest like a raging tide. The team made of ordinary fighters was some distance away from them and formed the second defense line.

They were all the adults in the tribe. Although they were not qi-trainers, the tall and strong Iron Plateau natives could still wield simple True Qi weapons with the help of True Qi containers. They were responsible for catching the small fries that luckily escaped the battle formation at the front.

In the unlikely scenario that the qi-trainers failed, they would fight until there were none of them, too.

The apocalypse cloud in the sky of the northwest looked entirely different from several days ago. The colors had dimmed, and the arms formed by the cloud were slithering like the limbs of a giant beast. The size of the cloud was larger, and it looked like it had already consumed a corner of the sky. The black hole in the middle had expanded, too. From the center of the black hole, thousands of dazzling electric arcs were unleashed. They seemed to be piercing into everyone’s heart!

“Come on. Let’s fight!”

The qi-trainers of the Furious Bears Tribe roared, laughed, and screamed. They accelerated the vehicles below them to the highest speed and almost blew them into pieces as they charged at the apocalypse cloud like a whirlwind!

Translator’s Thoughts

 flycrane01

Millman: About the bonus releases… I’m going on holiday for two weeks tomorrow, so chapters have been prepared for regular releases, but I haven’t had chance to prepare the bonus chapters.

Fret not, you will get any and all bonus chapters owed (provided we stay in the top 20 😀 ), it’s just that they’ll be delayed by a couple of weeks.

Chapter 577: Six Tribes Gathered!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

The tanks of the Furious Bears Tribe drove in the unceasing sand for hundreds of kilometers, leaving a long, yellow trail behind them, as they entered the center of the desert.

This place was a paradise for demon beasts. Some of them that had been lurking underground had even formed a flock with a population of several hundred. But, however large the flock was, they did not dare mess around with the unstoppable iron army!

Even the most brutal demon beasts were hiding in the depths of their nests, the entrances to which they had blocked with rocks and grass. They felt the shaking earth and shuddered in the darkness!

The apocalypse cloud continued to grow larger and almost covered half of the sky. The blue color of the remaining half sky was becoming lackluster, too.

Although they were still hundreds of kilometers away, the shrieks and screams deep inside the apocalypse cloud were already audible. A large beam of smoke, which seemed to have formed from billions of evil spirits, rose up from the horizon to the sky!

Li Yao and Wu Mayan were riding forward together when they heard noises from their left and right that were even louder than the roars of the apocalypse cloud.

They looked back and noticed that two equally large teams of tanks had appeared on the horizon on their left and right simultaneously and rushed at them at the same time.

The tanks on the left side were amazingly fast and approached them like a silver hurricane.

Li Yao squinted and observed carefully. He found that the paint on the tanks was colorful and eye-catching, and he felt that they were like caterpillars with various insignia.

The structure of their tanks was similar to that of the Furious Bears Tribe’s tanks, except that they were apparently much more finely-made. A lot of rare metal materials had been used in the vehicles. Several guns and a handful of sabers and swords were placed beside almost every warrior.

On the flag behind their tanks was painted a glittering sliver crescent moon. There was a grinning face on the moon that was in the same style as the emblem of the Burning Sun Tribe.

Wu Mayan declared, “They are the tanks from the Silver Moon Tribe. The Silver Moon Tribe is the richest one of the six tribes of Iron Plateau. They have several large mother lodes in their territory, and they like to do business among the six tribes. Therefore, they have accumulated tremendous wealth. Their armor and magical equipment are the most delicate on Iron Plateau!

“However—”

Wu Mayan grimaced. “Qi-trainers of the Silver Moon Tribe are very valiant when they have enough ammunition and spiritual gas, but if the battle is prolonged and they run out of supply, it will be hard to tell!”

Li Yao nodded and pointed at the right. “What about them?”

The tanks on the right were even more raucous than the Silver Moon Tribe. Countless muscular men were wrapped in chains of cartridge clips and carried several True Qi guns on their backs.

Such weapons could spray the bullets out by the high-pressure spiritual gas. They were definitely as powerful as the spiritual guns in the outside world.

Many warriors were yelling and shooting their guns at the sky. Their bullets were almost the size of a child’s fist. There was no telling what kind of crystals were stored in them, but the chemical reaction in them was evidently not smooth. They all exploded in midair and became colorful fireworks.

Wu Mayan announced, “They are the tanks of the Heaven Wolves Tribe. People there prefer to use firearms. The larger the caliber of their weapon, the stronger they are considered to be. Therefore, the strongest expert is the one using the biggest gun! Look, their tanks are full of machine guns and turrets that can aim at any angle!

“What the top experts of the Heaven Wolves Tribe use can barely be called guns; they are essentially carrying large cannons onto the battlefield!”

While the two of them were talking, Xiong Wuji and the leaders of the Furious Bears Tribe rushed out of the formation and gathered with the heads of the Silver Moon Tribe and the Heaven Wolves Tribe. The three parties rode together and greeted each other by shouting. Obviously, they were in a close relationship.

Wu Mayan drew close to Li Yao and whispered to him, almost extending his mouth to Li Yao’s ear, “In every battle of the apocalypse, all the experts and leaders of the six tribes of Iron Plateau gather together. Therefore, every battle of the apocalypse is also a chance for the six tribes to hold a meeting. The strategy for the development of the six tribes of Iron Plateau in the next ten years will be discussed in such meetings!

“The Silver Moon Tribe and the Heaven Wolves Tribe are in a good relationship with us; we are always on the same side!

“But the other three tribes are not so close to us!”

Li Yao raised his eyebrow. “Are there conflicts?”

Wu Mayan blushed. Thankfully, it was hard to distinguish in the middle of the raging sandstorm. He explained, “The environment on Iron Plateau is extremely rough. Nobody’s life is easy. Sometimes, due to the different development plans, conflicts are bound to occur!

“Both mother lodes and arable lands are limited. In competition for resources, several major and minor conflicts have broken out over the past thousands of years.

“However, the occasional apocalypse outbursts suppress all the skirmishes in the end. A thousand years ago, the seniors of the six tribes made a deal together that the resources should be distributed according to the performaces in the battles of the apocalypse!

“Whoever hunts the most beasts in a battle of apocalypse will be granted with the largest portion of resources. Whoever has the best performance in a battle of apocalypse will earn the right to command everybody else in their tribe! Those who disobeyed them would be attacked by the other five tribes!

“It has been an unshakable rule on Iron Plateau.

“Therefore, although we do not always see eye to eye with one another, we managed to maintain the ostensible peace.

“However—”

Wu Mayan lowered his head deeply but held it high again a moment later. He bit his lips so hard that there were traces of his teeth on them, before he said loudly, “Since my mother brought me to the Furious Bears Tribe thirteen years ago, the conflict among the six tribes has become even more heated!

“Furious Bears, Silver Moon, and Heaven Wolves were relatively politer to outsiders. Later, after my mother cured several leaders of the Silver Moon Tribe and the Heaven Wolves Tribe, they all accepted us.

“But as for Burning Sun, Feathered Snakes, and Giant Axe, they were not so easy to talk sense to. They detest space residents and have demanded many times that the Furious Bears Tribe kick us out and leave us at the mercy of the desert!

“I remember that, when the three tribes learned that I was starting to learn the qi-trainers’ techniques, a civil war among the six tribes of Iron Plateau almost broke out!

“Father Xiong has shouldered all the responsibility by himself so that my mom and I could live comfortably in Furious Bears City to this day!”

While talking, the young man’s eyes turned red. He clenched his fists, his tone sharper than ever. “I have two motivations for my strict training. Firstly, I want to protect my mom so that nobody is mean to her!

“Secondly, I don’t want to disappoint Father Xiong!

“I remember that, when the experts of Burning Sun, Feathered Snakes, and Giant Axe gathered at the time and urged the Furious Bears Tribe to drive us away, Father Xiong took all the pressure by himself the hard way!

“I still remember clearly what my father said at that moment.

“He said that the Iron Plateau natives and the space residents shared the same blood. We are all human beings, striving for survival, and therefore shouldn’t attack each other.

“If determined to fight, the real men of Iron Plateau should challenge the Core Formation Stage Cultivators and the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in the space fairly and squarely. Why should they vent their anger from five thousand years ago on a widow and her child?

“After saying that, he defeated three experts from the three tribes in a row in the arena and therefore earned us the right to stay!

“I will never forget how manly Father Xiong was after the battle, despite the heavy wounds and dripping blood!

“He has paid so much to protect my mom and me; I shall become someone who deserves his sacrifice!

“Yes. We are all human beings, and our blood is equally red and hot. I’m going to prove that point!

“Although the blood of space flows in my veins, I will become the strongest warrior on Iron Plateau!

“Hu—”

The young man roared. He snatched a flag from the back of his tank and dashed at a slant stone. Then he leapt into the air with the stone as a platform.

The young man burst into laughter, with the flag flapping in the wind, like a torch that would not die down however intensely the storm was blowing.

The scene impressed Li Yao deeply. He recalled how Wu Mayan had fallen to the ground exhaustedly late the previous night.

The training plan he had drafted for Wu Mayan was ten times crueler than ‘the infernal special training program of death’, the plan Sun Biao had devised for him years ago. He had thought that Wu Mayan would definitely give up, but as it turned out, the young man had made his way through it!

Maybe the thirteen-year-old young man was not a genius but a lunatic just like himself.

Li Yao took a long breath in relief. He grinned and accelerated his tank to catch up with his young companion.

After another hour of rushing, the tanks from the other three tribes finally appeared!

The competition between the two sides started the moment they met!

Wu Mayan pointed at the three waves of smoke and interpreted them for Li Yao.

“The red smoke on the left, and the fastest one, is the Burning Sun Tribe! Their tanks boast the highest speed and specifications. They have also trained the best scouts and charging team in their tribe. They are an out-and-out tribe of racing!

“The Burning Sun Tribe worships speed. They believe that the faster one is, the stronger one is!”

Li Yao recalled Yan Chihuo of the Burning Sun Tribe, who was indeed an excellent tank racer. If he hadn’t had such a marvelous gadget to escape, Black Wing, he might’ve been unable to escape the man’s pursuit.

“The tanks in the middle belong to the Feathered Snakes Tribe. Do you see the falcons and giant bats in the sky? They are all animals that have been tamed by the Feathered Snakes Tribe.

“The Feathered Snakes Tribe is the tribe that is best at domesticating animals. Not only are they adept at releasing animals in a battle, they are also fond of strengthening themselves with the animals!

“There’s this virulent Feathered Snake that they specially bred. When they are young, they let the snakes bite themselves and stimulate their bodies with the poison. Their flesh, veins, and nerves are strengthened in such a way, and the strongest warriors of the Feathered Snakes Tribe are eventually created!

“On the right, it’s the Giant Axe Tribe. They are the tribe with the strictest rules in battles.

“Look, there are a lot of drumming cars in their tribe. Everybody marches forward toward the demon beasts and throws their axe at the same time according to the drumming. The overwhelming wave of axes can almost even tear a mountain apart instantly!”

Chapter 578: Showing Off!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Li Yao looked ahead and immediately noticed dozens of excessively large tanks from the Giant Axe Tribe that had hundreds of drums placed on them. Countless brawny men, who wore nothing on their upper body, were hitting the drums hard!

The heavy drumming together with the fulmination of spiritual gas allowed the qi-trainers of the Giant Axe Tribe to activate their spiritual gas at the same time. Although there were only several thousand of them, they were marching forward slowly but surely as if they were an army of tens of thousands of soldiers!

Li Yao secretly commended them. The armies of the six tribes of Iron Plateau had their own distinctive characteristics, but all of them were well-trained and obedient to commands. Many of their battle formations were even more advanced than those of the Heaven’s Origin Sector.

Cultivators in the Heaven’s Origin Sector would join the battles against the Blood Demon Sector based on the ‘war system’. But essentially, the system was designed to maximize and make best use of their personal combat ability; it was not really fit for a great war that often required well-ordered teamwork.

Enlisting the Cultivators with high personal combat ability into thoroughly organized battle formations was a headache for every leader in the world of Cultivators, especially commanding them like a real army while not preventing the Cultivators from using their best techniques. Both the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector had failed to find a good solution to the dilemma.

But the qi-trainers on Iron Plateau had discovered a unique way.

The leadership of the three tribes, including Xiong Wuji, rushed toward the three new teams of tanks.

In the meantime, countless young qi-trainers wandered out from the other three tribes and shuttled around the Furious Bears Tribe’s team on their agile and swift single tanks. They were yelling and roaring with arrogant expressions, as if they were trying to provoke the Furious Bears Tribe intentionally.

Li Yao glanced questioningly at Wu Mayan.

Wu Mayan explained, “This is a tradition of Iron Plateau. Every battle against the apocalypse is the time when all the experts of the six tribes gather. As long as one distinguishes themself in battle, their name will be heard all over Iron Plateau!

“Therefore, before each battle, many unknown qi-trainers will come out and show off in order to provoke the other tribes, especially the ‘landlord’. They are implying that, although this is our territory, they are going to make the greatest contributions in the battle to come no matter what!

“Valiancy is what matters most on Iron Plateau. We must fight back such provocations. Let’s consider it a warm-up before the battle of apocalypse!”

His eyes bloodshot, Wu Mayan gazed at the single tank that was galloping at a high speed in the lead.

Li Yao squinted and discovered that the flag of the Burning Sun Tribe was on the back of the tank.

It appeared that Wu Mayan still remembered how the three tribes had visited Furious Bears Tribe and insisted that he and Sha Yulan be banished.

The knight of the Burning Sun Tribe in the lead was excellently controlling the tank. His single tank was moving toward left and then right, like a catkin in the wind, while he slashed his saber so fast that thousands of streams of silver brightness flooded out of the vehicles. He even drove under the heavy tanks of the Furious Bears Tribe from one side and crawled out from the other side dangerously, raising roars of applause.

Wu Mayan bellowed and accelerated suddenly toward the knight of the Burning Sun Tribe. He waved the flag of the Furious Bears Tribe hard and crossed his opponent’s flag of the Burning Sub Tribe!

This was the way to answer someone’s provocation on Iron Plateau!

BOOM! BOOM!

Intense white smoke spurted out of the back of the two True Qi tanks, with flames vaguely mixed in them. The fulminations of the two vehicles were even noisier than those of heavy tanks.

At first, they drove next to each other. Then they started to try to go faster than their opponent, and whoever was in front would spurt the gas right into the other person’s face.

The two of them had officially pissed each other off and were ready for a competition!

As more than a hundred thousand qi-trainers had gathered in the desert, there were bound to be young and ambitious warriors whose fighting will was soaring now that a life-and-death battle was approaching. It was only reasonable that such minor conflicts had burst out.

Over the past hundreds of years, such competitions before battles had already become a tradition. As long as nobody was killed, everybody was free to do what they wanted. Also, the competitions greatly helped boost the morale of the army.

Naturally, the winners of the competition were excited and more confident than before after they secured the victory, and those who failed would also feel ashamed and would try to win back their pride in the battle to come. Therefore, they were often particularly fearless later.

Even for the spectators, the hotblooded competitions were beneficial for them to release some tension before the battle.

It was a valuable lesson that had been passed on generation after generation for hundreds of years. Nobody stopped them. Instead, seeing that the two of them were challenging each other, all the other qi-trainers shouted and cheered. The drumming tanks of the Giant Axe Tribe worked even harder and started playing a blood-boiling battle hymn!

Wu Mayan and the knight of the Burning Sun Tribe went faster and faster and soon surpassed the vanguard, leading the way in the desert.

The desert was full of peril. Although the ground seemed normal, it was quite possible that the underground demon beasts had sabotaged and created countless empty chambers below the earth. Also, the seemingly solid ground could very well be a thin layer of rock that covered a bottomless abyss, opened up by the apocalypse’s ravaging of the land!

The anti-gravity technology of Iron Plateau was very underdeveloped. Most of the tanks had to ride close to the ground. For super-large tanks weighing hundreds of tons, they would be destroyed together with the passengers on them should they fall into a pit or an abyss.

Therefore, in front of the main troops, there were vanguards who were driving single tanks that had been equipped with special probe magical equipment, which hit the ground continuously. They were able to determine whether or not the ground was solid enough for the main troops to pass over by listening to the echoes.

The job could be very dangerous; sometimes the probe magical equipment even collapsed the underground empty chambers directly.

Weird whirls that boasted immense attraction force often existed in the empty chambers. Like swirls in an ocean, they could drag the victims underground easily.

Therefore, only the nimblest warrior with the keenest senses could serve in the vanguard.

Wu Mayan and the knight of the Burning Sun Tribe, on the other hand, had gone beyond the vanguard and were rushing into the desert that had not been explored yet.

The gap in capability between the two parties was obvious. Wu Mayan was definitely at a much lower level than the knight of the Burning Sun Tribe. He was much less skilled at driving the single tank than was his opponent, too.

The desert seemed flat from afar. But it was, in fact, ragged and full of ravines and bizarre rocks because of thousands of years of erosion. Occasionally, there were also skeletons of enormous demon beasts.

Yet, the knight of the Burning Sub Tribe was zigzagging about, dodging the obstructions swiftly. He was moving so fast and fluently that he seemed to be riding on a highway.

Wu Mayan, on the other hand, was like a fearless desperado. He saw absolutely no obstruction and simply rushed straight at the apocalypse cloud. However bumpy the road was, his route remained utterly unchanged!

His opponent was avoiding the obstructions while he was crashing into everything in his way without paying it any heed. Therefore, his opponent’s advantage in skills was evened out by his boldness.

However, everybody could tell that he was risking his life for the game. Such a way of driving was a major burden both for himself and his single tank. If he was inattentive for one moment, he and the vehicle would be buried together!

All the qi-trainers were deeply awed.

The competitions before the battles were only meant for fun after all. It was a game among the young people of the six tribes. There were no grudges between them, and rarely had anyone risked their life for the victory of such a game. They did not understand why the knight of the Furious Bears Tribe was so agitated.

Swoosh!

Wu Mayan’s True Qi tank rode above the rib of the skeleton of a large demon beast and, drawing an arc in the curved bone, rushed up high into the sky, leaving six thick beams of smoke trailing behind him, as if the vehicle had grown wings. The speed of his tank was brought to the highest, and it surpassed the knight of the Burning Sun Tribe for the first time.

The knight of the Burning Sun Tribe seemed to be intimidated by his resolution. He hit the brakes hard and came to an abrupt halt!

Wu Mayan burst into laughter. He did not land on the ground until he had flown almost five hundred meters. Sparks were spluttering everywhere when the tank hit the earth.

However, at exactly the moment of his landing, a sandstorm suddenly swept over, and the ground collapsed, revealing almost a hundred enormous caves!

“Not good. Iron Ore Worm nests!”

The faces of some of the experienced qi-trainers immediately blanched.

Iron Ore Worms were the experts of digging holes in the desert. They lived on the microconstituents in the rocks and could release special digestive acids that could transform the most solid rocks into loose sand.

They had been devouring rocks and defaecating unsolid earth all their life.

One Iron Ore Worm was enough to drill countless holes under the ground of several square kilometers and turn the area into a labyrinth.

But as it turned out, the place was a nest of Iron Ore Worms. Maybe it was because Iron Ore Worms’ favorite microconstituents were highly concentrated in the area. Judging from the scale, dozens of Iron Ore Worms had taken the place as their nests.

They had been digging holes and enjoying the delicious food day and night. The hard rock stratums had turned into the softest sand during the process. Some spots in the region had been entirely hollowed and only had a thin cap over them.

Wu Mayan’s heavy landing had crushed cap that was as thin as an egg shell. The nests of the Iron Ore Worms were exposed to the daylight.

Dozens of Iron Ore Worms were wriggling crazily underground and screaming desperately in outrage. Their mouthparts, which were full of acid and sharp teeth, were enlarged to such an extent that they could swallow Wu Mayan together with his tank!

Wu Mayan dashed among the various holes and dodged the assault of several Iron Ore Worms closely.

One of the Iron Ore Worms spurted a storm of iron ores brutally toward his back. Sparks immediately began popping up on the back of his single tank. Within a moment, the sparks turned into dancing flames!

Several other single tanks had rushed out from the main troops of the six tribes, trying to charge into the nests and save Wu Mayan.

A few experts of the Fierce Storm Assault Team of the Furious Bears Tribe had also dived into the air at a high speed.

However, a single tank in the shape of a venomous scorpion darted into the nests of the Iron Ore Tribes before anybody else.

The flag of the Furious Bears Tribe was stabbed into the back of the single tank, and yet the knight’s skills of driving were even more sophisticated than those of the knights of the Burning Sun Tribe. He was galloping on the collapsed ground and dodging the bullets of the Iron Ore Worms every now and then. Sometimes, he even raised the head of the tank and moved toward the back of the Iron Ore Worms!

The second before Wu Mayan was to be devoured by the Iron Ore Worm, the scorpion-like tank arrived. The knight riding on it was quick enough to snatch Wu Mayan and toss him to the back of his tank.

After a huge CRACK, Wu Mayan’s single tank was bitten by two Iron Ore Worms simultaneously and torn apart!

BOOM!

The broken single tank suddenly exploded astoundingly, as the knight had thrown several Wolf Fangs into it.

Smoke was spreading, and fire was soaring. The scorpion-like tank weaved deftly among countless infuriated Iron Ore Worms before it rushed out of the cave several seconds later!

Chapter 579: Challenging the Apocalypse!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

His fluent driving skills made the spectators wonder whether or not he could drive the scorpion-like tank on a spider’s web without breaking any of the threads!

The knight of the Burning Sun Tribe who had raced with Wu Mayan in the beginning was startled for a long time. He did not expect that there were such skilled knights in the Furious Bears Tribe. A moment later, he accelerated his tank and drew close, planning to have a duel with the knight on the scorpion-like tank.

However, the eighteen exhaust tubes in rows at the rear of the scorpion-like tank suddenly dispersed. Like two folded hands that were now opened, seven-colored mystic rays burst out and pushed the vehicle forward. The knight of the Burning Sun Tribe was left far behind, while the scorpion-like tank returned to his own tribe without even bothering to look at him.

For a moment, the Furious Bears Tribe were simmering with excitement. Nobody had anticipated that a knight of the Furious Bears Tribe could defeat the Burning Sun Tribe in a race. Cheers and applause echoed like thunder.

There was brief silence on the Burning Sun Tribe’s side, but it was soon broken by thundering ovation, too.

Valiancy was valued most in the six tribes of Iron Plateau. The knight on the scorpion-like tank had risked his own life by rushing into the nests of the Iron Ore Worms and saving somebody else. Such an insane action and his marvelous racing skills had won the fondness of the warriors of the Burning Sun Tribe.

In the other tribes, many other experts were eyeing the scorpion-like tank in amazement, trying to find out who the knight was. However, his face was covered by a neatly-forged helmet that looked like the head of a scorpion. They could only see a pair of sharp eyes through the blockage of the dust.

The knight of the Burning Sun Tribe, on the other hand, cursed and returned to his team in frustration, only to be mocked by his companions ruthlessly.

At first, he had hesitated for a moment in front of the nests of the Iron Ore Worms and did not rush inside to save the victim as soon as possible, which was a clear sign of his lack of courage. Then, when he wanted to race with the new opponent, he couldn’t even catch up with the tank’s exhaust. It was truly a humiliating failure!

The chiefs of the six tribes soon began their meeting on the top of a large spider-like war machine that belonged to the Furious Bears Tribe. Seeing the episode, the chiefs and the other experts around them were greatly interested.

Yan Zhengdong, chief of the Burning Sun Tribe, had skin and muscles as healthy and vigorous as those of young men even though his hair was white. However, embarrassment was written all over his face. He tried to make a smile and remarked, “I was told long ago that two young experts had distinguished themselves in the Furious Bears Tribe in the recent ten years. One of them is Xiong Zhenzhen, and the other is Shi Meng. Neither of them has reached forty yet, but they have both entered the 80th level of the Refinement Stage. I wonder, is this knight Xiong Zhenzhen or Shi Meng?”

Xiong Wuji grinned like a big bear who had just stolen a honeycomb and replied, “His name is Sand Scorpion!”

On the back of the scorpion-like tank, Wu Mayan waved and writhed in excitement on the seat, half lying in it. He was so thrilled that he was almost lost for words. “Uncle Sand Scorpion, you were so awesome! I didn’t know that your racing skills are so good! Even the knight of the Burning Sun Tribe did not dare step in, but you simply barged into the chaos without any hesitation.

“I saw it. I saw everything! You were driving on the back of the Iron Ore Worms and even jumped from there to the head of another Iron Ore Worm! That was so cool!

“No. You have to be my master! Recruit me as your disciple, Uncle Sand Scorpion! Teach me the secret methods to improve dozens of levels within one month and the coolest racing skills!”

Li Yao enjoyed the feeling of speed to his heart’s content that he hadn’t enjoyed for a long time. He didn’t reply until quite a while later. Then, he opened his mouth with a coarse voice. “Why did you rush out? You were no match for him.”

Wu Mayan’s joyfulness was terminated. He was silent for a long time, before he gnashed his teeth. “I know the knight. His name is Yan Chihuo. He is son of Yan Zhengdong, who is the chief of the Burning Sun Tribe! Three years ago, when the Burning Sun Tribe, the Feathered Snakes Tribe, and the Giant Axe Tribe gathered in Furious Bears City and browbeat Father Xiong into kicking my mother and me out, he was there, too, and he even pushed my mother heavily one time!

“He said at that time that the cowardly rats of space are not qualified to live in a town of Iron Plateau natives!

“I’ve remembered those words my entire life!

“I rushed out today because I wanted him to know who the cowardly rat really was!”

While talking, Wu Mayan suddenly stood up from the back seat of the tank.

Although Yan Chihuo had returned to his own team, he was being mocked by many warriors of his tribe. Bravery was the most important criterion for Iron Plateau natives. The courageous men were respected anywhere, and those who lacked guts would never be looked up to even if they were the son of the chief.

Yan Chihuo was quite angry and therefore glared at Li Yao’s tank.

Since Wu Mayan was standing straight on the seat, he was much taller than Li Yao.

He took off his helmet and scowled at Yan Chihuo while pointing at his own face.

Yan Chihuo narrowed his eyes. He was confused at first because he did not realize who the guy was. A moment later, he suddenly discovered that the one racing with him just now was the little bastard from the space.

When he thought that the little bastard surpassed him at the end of the match, Yan Chihuo’s face almost turned green in fury.

The entire Burning Sun Tribe was filled with discussion, too.

It was one thing to have been defeated by a knight of the Furious Bears Tribe and a whole different thing to have been beaten by a space resident!

Wu Mayan winked at him again before he put on his helmet and sat down again. He begged for a second time, “Uncle Sand Scorpion, please recruit me as your disciple! I can endure any pain or suffering as long as I can become stronger than right now. Next time, not counting on you, not counting on Father Xiong, I’m going to teach those condescending bastards a good lesson on my own!”

Li Yao was quiet in the blowing sandstorm for a long time before he slightly sighed and answered, “After the battle, if both you and I are alive, and you pass my final test, I will recruit you as my disciple.”

“Really?”

Wu Mayan was so excited that he almost started performing backflips on the rear of the tank. Then he yelled, “What kind of test? Just bring it on! I’m scared of no tests!”

Li Yao smiled. “It’s simple. You will only be gnawed by a few ants for a while.”

…

It was late night when the qi-trainers of the six tribes reached the area of the egg of apocalypse after a long expedition of four hundred kilometers through a sandstorm.

The apocalypse cloud had consumed the sky above their heads. It was emitting bleak, gloomy, bluish rays. Illuminated by the light, every qi-trainer looked like a dead body.

This was a great canyon hundreds of meters deep. One could not help but wonder whether or not it had been created by the giant falling meteorites thousands of years ago. The bottom of the canyon had turned into a lake because of years of sinking rainwater. At this moment, the lake was bubbling and raising fuzzy fog. There was no telling how large the lake was.

Li Yao looked far ahead and found an extremely high mountain vaguely visible in the middle of the fog. Bizarrely-shaped, daunting rocks covered the mountain. Some of them protruded out of the mountain like the teeth and claws of animals, making the mountain look like a caltrop, just billions of times larger.

Large clusters of black smoke popped out of the gaps of the rocks and soared to the sky, joining the apocalypse cloud continuously.

BOOM CRACK! BOOM CRACK!

Rumbling noises echoed nonstop inside the apocalypse cloud, and brilliant lightning danced crazily, adding to everyone’s uneasiness.

The beasts tamed by the Feathered Snakes Tribe sensed danger, too. Although they were restricted by their masters through secret arts, they were still grunting in low voices nervously.

Sensing that a large batch of human beings had drawn close, the apocalypse cloud shrank violently. It started raining suddenly, but the rainwater was extremely stinky.

“Hu—Hu—”

The apocalypse cloud was rolling and constricting. It swept over toward the canyon and wreathed the entire meteorite mountain, making it look like a gargantuan black heart that was beating and emitting dull ‘LUM DUM’ noises. Everybody felt that their own heart was grasped uncomfortably.

“Eggs of apocalypse can sense the existence of strangers. Since so many vigorous human beings have gathered in this place, the egg of apocalypse will be stimulated, and its maturing will be accelerated!

“Every sign indicates that the egg of apocalypse will explode before dawn!”

Wu Mayan was extremely happy after getting Li Yao’s promise, so he explained the situation to him respectfully.

This particular egg of apocalypse was at the bottom of the great canyon. The terrain was very much in the six tribes’ favor, because they could block all the apocalyptic beasts born from the egg as long as they guarded the two ends of the canyon.

The east side of the canyon was relatively narrow; it was not suitable to deploy large armies there. Therefore, the Furious Bears Tribe, the Silver Moon Tribe, and the Heaven Wolves Tribe were stationed in the west, while the Burning Sun Tribe, the Feathered Snakes Tribe, and the Giant Axe Tribe established their camps on the east side. Everybody was ready for battle.

The apocalypse cloud covered more of the meteorite through the beams of smoke with each passing minute. By five o’clock in the morning, the meteorite mountain had lost all its shape and was completely enveloped by the apocalypse cloud. It had truly become a wriggling egg of demons.

When the first blood-red ray of sunlight pierced through the sky and reached the egg of apocalypse, earsplitting shrieks burst out of the egg, as if the wraiths in the deepest level of hell were crying. In the dense smoke, thousands of black streams spurted out and spread to the entire canyon!

“Let it begin!”

More than a hundred thousand qi-trainers roared at the same time. Their voices almost broke the canyon apart!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM BOOM!

The True Qi artillery deployed behind the battle formations of the qi-trainers launched the first bombardment controlled by ordinary people!

The True Qi artillery could throw crystal bombs weighing hundreds of kilograms several thousand meters away with a reasonably high precision by detonating super-compressed air.

However, the bodies of the eccentric beasts born in the apocalypse were extremely sturdy. They wouldn’t be hurt at all if the bombs did not explode right on their critical parts.

Besides, the True Qi artillery would consume a large number of resources. Also, due to the underdeveloped technology in the production procedures, many components would be loosened after each firing, therefore affecting the airtightness of the firearm. The second firing required tedious preparation before it could be carried out. So, the True Qi artilleries could not bombard the enemy continuously.

In light of the shortcoming of the True Qi artillery, they were often used to launch one bombardment when the egg of apocalypse was about to explode and all the apocalyptic beasts were still gathered.

After that, the qi-trainers would be engaged in head-on bloody battles to secure the final victory!

Flowers of flames blossomed in the black smoke and soon wreathed the egg of apocalypse, transforming it into an orange super large fireball.

However, the fireball was collapsing inwardly nonstop. After each collapse, a large cluster of smoke rushed out!

The giant lake in the center of the canyon had been enshrouded in black smoke. The bubbling sound of the lake water was getting louder and louder, as if the entire lake was being vaporized.

Screams that nobody had heard, even in their worst nightmares, echoed from the black smoke!

Chapter 580: Manic Warriors!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Some enormous shadows gradually revealed themselves from the black smoke, although they were still not very clear. The crimson sun outlined their body and dyed the shadows blood red. Most of the shadows were like humungous insects, except that the most brutal features of almost ten different kinds of insects had been combined into one.

Standing on a magnificent war machine that looked like a spider, Xiong Wuji announced, his voice piercing through the entire canyon like a tolling bell and rumbling thunder, “Warriors of Iron Plateau, yet another egg of apocalypse has broken out, and the pests have shown up in front of us again!

“Behind us is our home and countless defenseless towns where our parents, siblings, and children are living happily!

“One escaping pest is enough to destroy the peace!

“Come on. Tell the pests with your fists and blades that this is our home and that the planet belongs to qi-trainers!

“Over the past five thousand years, we’ve crushed countless pests. In the five thousand years to come, we will go on fighting and exterminate even more pests! If the apocalypse breaks out ten thousand times, we will blow it up ten thousand times!

“This is our belief. This is the highest glory for every qi-trainer. Born in Iron Plateau, die in Iron Plateau!”

Cheers and roars burst out from the two sides of the canyon. All the qi-trainers were slapping their tanks with their weapons, raising brilliant sparks, while they bellowed at the same time.

“Born in Iron Plateau, die in Iron Plateau!”

Their killing intent soared up to the sky. Even the apocalypse seemed to be awed. Many gaps appeared in it like interconnecting wounds.

Through the gaps, rays of sunlight sprayed down and flowed on the desert like gold blood.

Coming! Coming!

Large flocks of beasts charged out of the black smoke. They were no longer blocked, and their hideous appearance was fully shown. Like a tsunami, they roared, shrieked, and scampered toward the two sides of the canyon!

Most demon beasts that could live in the harsh environment of Iron Plateau for thousands of years were insects and reptilians. The eccentric beasts produced by the egg of apocalypse carried distinctive characteristics of the two kinds of demon beasts.

Some of the eccentric beasts were like enormous lizards, except that their backs had grown almost ten sharp blades that looked like the forelegs of a mantis, which they were waving crazily.

Some other thick-skinned giant turtles with solid shells were dragging sturdy scorpion tails. When they waved their tails softly, visible waves spread through the air.

There were also countless snake-type eccentric beasts that were as wide as buckets, but disproportional antennas that solely belonged to insects were protruding out of their heads.

Some of the snake-type apocalyptic beasts only had one antenna that was thick, straight, and looked like a battering ram, while some others had four antennas that looked like iron maces on each sides of their head, which could concentrate in the middle from various directions and pierce forward as their jawbone constricted.

Whatever the form of the eccentric beasts, the surfaces of their bodies were all glittering. Because of the large amount of metal inside their bodies, it was like in an invisible armor that increased their defense ability by ten times. So, they were much more difficult to deal with than common demon beasts.

Such eccentric beasts of the apocalypse were not natural-born after all. They could not even be called life forms because they were ‘weapons’ that the apocalypse had specially refined!

Their vitality and strength would fully burst out for several days. After the duration, they would be automatically disassembled and die.

It was also why the outbreaks of apocalypse in the Dark Continent did not affect the territory of the six tribes.

However, for the outbreaks of the apocalypse that were too close, the ‘weapons’ could sweep over everything in their way like locusts and demolish all the towns, villages, farmlands, and mines before their vitality ran out.

Not only would they eliminate every creature they met, they would also absorb the mother lodes and corrupt all the arable land. The development of the civilization would suffer a critical setback because of the disruption!

Therefore, they had to be gathered and annihilated before they dispersed into the wilderness!

“Release the Manic Warriors!” shouted Xiong Wuji.

Soul-stirring drumming echoed.

DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG!

“Wu—” Countless brawny men, whose muscles and veins were bulging, were carrying long horns on their shoulders that had been crafted out of the bones of bull-type demon beasts. They blew the horns, and the sound rang over in the battlefield.

“Heh—Ho! Heh—Ho!”

More than ten heavy tanks, on which hundreds of fully-enclosed big boxes were carried, had been deployed on the two sides of the battle formation. The doors of the boxes were slowly opened by chains as a bunch of men chanted.

“Hoooooooo!”

With roars that seemed to be from the most ferocious animals, countless crazy figures leapt out of the iron boxes. They were all tall and mighty giants!

These men had messy hair and bloodshot eyes. There was not even the tiniest hint of humanity on their face. The soul of deadly animals seemed to have been poured into the bodies of human beings.

Wounds were all over their bodies, from which blood was flooding out. The wounds were all caused when they bashed the walls of the boxes too hard.

Some of them were wearing simple armor, but most of them felt uncomfortable because of the friction of the armors and tore apart their clothing, revealing their unparalleled sinewy bodies!

“Hoooo!”

The giants that looked like crazy devils had been consumed by their fighting will and lost their rationality long ago. Also, since they had been locked in darkness for too long, they turned around and immediately launched attacks when they were freed!

“They are the qi-trainers of all the six tribes who have become mentally deranged.”

There was pity deep down in Wu Mayan’s eyes as he further explained to Li Yao, “Their souls dwelled in the Titan Illusionary Land for too long to come back. They’ve turned into slaves of bloodthirst. They no longer recognize anyone, not even their own family, and will simply kill anyone they see when they go mad. Therefore, they could only be confined to below the temple of techniques!”

Li Yao remembered the screams and the bashes he had heard when he entered the bottom level of the temple of techniques for the first time. He frowned and asked, “What about now?”

Taking a deep breath, Wu Mayan held his head high and said proudly, “Now is different. With the apocalypse drawing near, even the most insane qi-trainer will recall their true destiny!”

Xiong Wuji roared and jumped off the spider-like war machine. His spiritual energy surged out, supporting him to float in midair, as he gazed at the mentally deranged qi-trainers from a high stance and shouted, “Qi-trainers, the apocalypse has come! In front of you are the family and friends you swore to protect, and behind you are your real enemies! Vent your boiling fighting will on the stinky pests!”

The word ‘apocalypse’ was like a mysteries spell that halted the infuriated qi-trainers where they were.

Ripples spread out from their crimson eyes, and what could almost be called ‘humanity’ popped up on their hideous faces again.

“Ahhhhh!”

Several mentally deranged qi-trainers held their heads with their hands and screamed.

The drumming became even faster, and the horn was even louder. Tens of thousands of eyes shouted desperately in the highest pitch, their faces turning red because of shortness of breath. “Born in Iron Plateau, die in Iron Plateau!”

“Born…”

“Born in Iron Plateau…”

“Die in… Iron Plateau!”

Finally, many mentally deranged qi-trainers struggled and started echoing the declaration, however hard it was.

After each syllable, their vocal cords seemed to be ripped apart once. The weird voices sounded like a mix of the roars of a human being and those of a ferocious animal!

They breathed heavily and raised their fists, which were still bleeding. They waved them at the battle formation hard, as if they were cheering up their comrades and asking everyone to fight bravely.

Then, they slowly turned around inch by inch.

Hundreds of heavy sabers and swords, as well as several flags that were fluttering in the wind, had been stabbed in the empty ground hundreds of square meters ahead of them.

The mentally deranged qi-trainers walked forward faster and faster, leaving deep footprints behind, until they were sprinting to the forest of blades. They each snatched a weapon or a flag when they passed by the field!

BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Those mentally deranged qi-trainers were all experts who had been crazy about training. That was why they couldn’t free themselves from the Titan Illusionary Land.

Although their brains had been ruined, their capability had not. On the contrary, the range of their spiritual gas outburst was even increased because of their madness!

The hundreds of manic warriors unleashed their spiritual gas at the same time, which surged out and congregated into an unstoppable hurricane. The auras from the sabers and swords that they were waving hard became the edge of the hurricane, and the invisible blade of spiritual gas cut countless interconnecting traces on the crags on the two sides of the canyon!

Their speed was higher and higher. When hundreds of people stomped on the ground simultaneously, even the hardest rock was shattered. They rushed toward the beasts of the apocalypse and crashed into them brutally!

Hurricane versus tsunami!

“Born in Iron Plateau, die in Iron Plateau!”

The mentally deranged qi-trainers finally regained part of their consciousness at the last moment as their fighting will soared. They saw their enemies and remembered what they were trying to protect. Their throats, which had been stuffed for too long a time, uttered the motto resolutely!

In their crazy laughter, they fully burnt their life and soul like torches that were going to burn through the heavens, and they collided into the beasts brutally!

Even the eccentric beasts created by the apocalypse that knew nothing but killing were somewhat overwhelmed by the senseless hurricane. Their seemingly irresistible momentum had been blocked by just several hundred qi-trainers!

The manic warriors stabbed into the core of the pack of beasts like a sweltering saber!

They rode on the back of the giant lizards where mantis-like sickles were grown and chopped of their heads, without bothering that the sickles had pierced deep into their own body.

A giant turtle had pierced through the chest of a manic warrior with its scorpion tail. But the manic warrior simply gripped the scorpion tail and yanked it out of the turtle shell with brute force!

Another manic warrior was bitten in half by a giant snake-type beast, which devoured the upper half of his body. But he then cut open the beasts’ guts from the inside while he was still alive!

They were qi-trainers, the qi-trainers who had lived and struggled on the harsh planet for five thousand years!

The cruel scenes of battle even bewildered Li Yao, who felt that his every muscle, every bone, every nerve, and every drop of blood inside his veins were about to break out of his body untameably!

His fighting will had started to soar!

Chapter 581: Unstoppable!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

The battle formations on the two sides of the canyon were like two primitive forests that had been on fire for three days and three nights and were about to burn a deep hole in the ground. Everybody’s eyes were blood-red, their muscles bulging and their spiritual gas surging out!

When the spiritual gas of the hundred thousand qi-trainers gathered together, brightness that seemed to be real flames soared up hundreds of meters into the sky, flickering.

Everybody’s fighting will had been brought to the maximum!

Fighting will and fighting will collided, and spiritual gas joined spiritual gas. As if ten thousand burningly hot iron blocks had been tossed into an icy lake, steam began popping out nonstop, and the water was splashing. An intense storm was brewing!

LUM DUM! LUM DUM! LUM DUM!

For a moment, Li Yao seemed to be able to hear the heartbeat of every one of the hundred thousand warriors on the spot and see the overlapping brain waves released from their minds. In the meantime, his own brain waves were spreading out and vibrating at the same frequency as everyone else’s!

Reverberation of fighting will!

It was the technique that the qi-trainers of Iron Plateau learned in the Titan Illusionary Land and could significantly improve the overall combat ability of a group!

The reverberation of the fighting will of a hundred thousand people made Li Yao blood boil and his muscles restless. He felt that his fighting will seemed to have become something just like his spiritual threads that could alter entities in reality. The spiritual gas thirty meters away from him was beyond the control of his spiritual gas, but he could make use of it easily with his fighting will!

One qi-trainer may not be a match for a Cultivator, but when countless qi-trainers gather and their fighting will reverberates, they will be in their ultimate form and become much stronger!

Li Yao thought through many things quickly. The redness inside his eyes grew even deeper and darker, and the giant sword was shaking on his back and patting his shoulder plate nonstop!

Everyone’s blade was getting out of their control and batting their master’s armor crazily, raising rounds of clangs!

“The first battle formation, march out!”

Xiong Wuji chose the perfect time to launch the attack.

At this moment, the beasts were sparse and disorganized due to the assault of the manic warriors, and the morale of the army of the qi-trainers was at its highest, motivated by their fearless comrades.

Under Xiong Wuji’s command, six legions marched out of their camps from two sides of the canyon and charged at the apocalypse!

“Uncle Sand Scorpion, you must recruit me as your disciple when we get back!”

Wu Mayan’s single tank had been destroyed in the nests of the Iron Ore Worms. Right now, he was aboard a carrier that had been covered by iron planks with sharp thorns. He grinned at Li Yao among countless other tall and muscular men and soon disappeared in the raging dust!

According to their different capability, the eccentric beasts of apocalypse were classified into three levels: ghost, dragon, and calamity.

As was often the case, the first batch to appear in an apocalypse outbreak consisted of ghost-level beasts. They were the cannon fodder of the apocalypse.

Therefore, the qi-trainers below the 30th level of the Refinement Stage, who were relatively weak, would be responsible for dealing with them.

Dragon-level beasts were the generals in an apocalypse outbreak. They had to be dealt with by the stronger experts above the 30th level of the Refinement Stage. Li Yao and the other elite warriors who had been asked to do free hunting were all waiting patiently for their arrival.

As for calamity-level beasts, they were out-and-out disasters just as their name suggested. They were often condensed by the essence of an egg of apocalypse. Some of them were stronger than others, and the strongest of them sometimes required all the top experts of the six tribes to work together in order to exterminate them!

If they ran out of the siege, then just as their name implied, every one of them would raise a calamity!

Thankfully, only one calamity-level beast would be born during each apocalypse outbreak. They were usually the heads of the apocalyptic beasts, and as long as the calamity-level beast was slain, the victory of the battle of apocalypse would be secured!

As the army of qi-trainers marched forward, the canyon was packed with people despite its amazing width. Steam and sand climbed in the sky and competed against the black smoke.

Li Yao jumped off his tank and hopped onto the back of a war machine almost twenty meters tall that looked like a six-legged spider.

With the advantage in altitude, Li Yao could clearly see that the six legions charging from two directions had encountered the beast tide of apocalypse. Countless sprays of iron and blood were splashing!

The six tribes’ styles of fighting were vastly different.

The Furious Bears Tribe had the largest number. They had been deployed in the central lane, where there were the most beasts. As the most frantic experts who liked head-on clashes best, they charged at the beast tide at an amazingly high speed while they threw Wolf Fangs toward their enemies crazily. Many of the heavy grenades pierced into the shells of the eccentric beasts like falling stars before they exploded suddenly, leaving shocking holes on the beasts’ bodies!

Just when the apocalyptic beasts felt that their heads were dizzy, the legion of the Furious Bears Tribe crashed into them. Earsplitting noises only drifted over several seconds after the slashing of sabers and swords, just like devastating thunder that could only be heard long after lightning had torn apart the sky!

The Silver Moon Tribe used a completely different style. They were the richest among the six tribes of Iron Plateau and possessed the finest weapons. Every True Qi tank and every qi-trainer was carrying various kinds of firearms on them, as if they were running mobile magical equipment stores!

When they were engaged with the beast tide, after the noise of scraping metal and the spinning sounds of gears, six stabilizer feet would extend out of their tanks, and a layer of iron shields would descend, turning the tanks into small fortresses, which were like nails that had been pinned into the beast tide. In the meantime, all the qi-trainers would shoot guns from behind the shields.

Occasionally, they would lower the shield on purpose to lure the beasts in before they cut the intruders into pieces with such fancy tricks that one might think they were doing acrobatics.

Although such a style seemed somewhat sordid, Li Yao had to admit that it was quite effective. As one tank after another crashed into the beast tide, the torso of the apocalypse had been tacked multiple times, and the nails were gradually reaching its heart!

The unconquerable mobile fortresses disrupted the momentum of the beast tide, which became intermittent after they reached the point.

When the fortresses were finally destroyed, the qi-trainers of the Silver Moon Tribe showed unparalleled courage, too. None of them turned around and ran away. When there were only a few of them left in their team and had run out of supplies, they would trigger a gadget on the tank and turn it into a burning fireball that consumed all the apocalyptic beasts in the surrounding hundred square meters.

In such a way, they proved the valiancy of the merchant tribe!

The Heaven Wolves Tribe on the right was even tougher. Black firearms had been added to the shoulders, arms, waist, and legs of everybody’s armor. The guns they were carrying in their hands were even thicker than the Six-Barreled Vulcan Machine Guns that Li Yao was used to. In his opinion, they were not guns at all, but crystal bomb launchers!

Countless muscular men of the Heaven Wolves Tribe were holding such ‘crystal bomb launchers’ in their hands, and they shot dense waves of destruction and crushed over the beast tide!

Further ahead, legions from the Burning Sun Tribe, the Feathered Snakes Tribe, and the Giant Axe Tribe could vaguely be seen.

The legion of the Burning Sun Tribe was in the lead. It was almost entirely made of single tanks, each of which had blades on both sides of their body. There was no telling what crystal powder had been added to the tank, but as the spiritual gas of the riders surged out, the blades all glittered coldly like two broad, magnificent sabers!

As they were about to engage with the enemy, the qi-trainers of the Burning Sun Tribe suddenly dispersed and rushed into the beast tide like lightning. The blades passed by the apocalyptic beasts at such a high speed that many of them felt nothing wrong and did not collapse to the ground or break into two halves until several seconds later!

Some of the apocalyptic beasts noticed the incoming threats and lunged at the knights of the Burning Sun Tribe. However, the knights of the Burning Sun Tribe showed unparalleled racing skills by drawing unbelievable arcs with their single tanks. At one moment, they were flying over the heads of the beasts; the next moment, they were sliding underneath. Barely any of them were actually caught by the apocalyptic beasts.

The legion of the Feathered Snakes Tribe was even livelier. Although they were not large in number, they were surrounded by their domesticated animals, which were far greater in number. Such animals had been trained with secret arts for thousands of years. Now, they had joined the battle together with their masters accompanied by weird flute and whistle sounds!

Moreover, the legion also included Feathered Snake Warriors who had been trained through the biting of the Feathered Snakes. Because of the venom they’d injected into their bodies, they were fearless of the erosion of any poison from the demon beasts!

What left Li Yao the deepest impression, however, was the legion of the Giant Axe Tribe.

The Giant Axe Tribe worshipped the color black. Everyone was wearing uniform black armor and carrying a giant black axe that reflected absolutely no light.

Different from the disorganized and obstreperous style of the other five tribes, they were more like a well-trained formal army.

Six drumming tanks were lined up behind their battle formation, echoing thudding noises at a fixed rhythm to help them regroup. Even when the roars and bellows of the other five tribes were tearing the clouds apart, the Giant Axe Tribe remained silent, except when they shouted in acknowledgment of their leader’s command.

They were like a bottomless swamp that would swallow any enemy.

The drumming became even rapider. The legion of the Giant Axe Tribe formed neat rows as if they were about to march in a parade. Several hundred people in one row, they strode forward at the same time.

Their speed was not fast, but their movements remained perfectly accurate. If one were to observe from the side of a row, they would feel that it was one person moving forward. Only the stomping noises when thousands of iron boots hit the ground simultaneously could make one realize what a terrifying army it was.

Many of the apocalyptic beasts boasted remote attack abilities. Venomous liquids and needles rained upon them, only to be mostly blocked by the giant axes as broad as shields in front of them.

Occasionally, somebody was hit, or found that venom was leaking in through the gaps on their armor. However, they gave no response, not even bothering to frown, and continued marching forward.

Somebody suffered fatal wounds and collapsed silently, but the warrior in the row behind filled the vacancy automatically; the battle formation was not affected at all.

The neat rows gradually approached the beast tide like the edge of a black saber.

Finally, many apocalyptic beasts were outraged and dashed at them.

The one in the leftmost of each row seemed to be the squad leader. Under their command, the hundreds of warriors in the row raised their giant axes and slashed them down at the same time. The spiritual gas generation devices embedded inside the giant axes blew out streams of white air currents and accelerated them. Hundreds of blade auras gushed forward and minced every apocalyptic beast within range!

Chapter 582: One Fist and One Sword!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Li Yao was deeply impressed by the scene. He couldn’t help but wonder what the outcome would be if qi-trainers and Cultivators of equal number were engaged in a fight.

His conclusion was that, faced with qi-trainers whose fighting will was reverberating, Cultivators would definitely be on the losing side, unless there were multiple Core Formation Stage Cultivators as backup!

However, Cultivators had exploited the potential of spiritual energy in various ways. They had devised countless kinds of brilliant models of spiritual energy and rune arrays, and they had invented many different types of powerful magical equipment, including warships that were tens of thousands of meters long. The qi-trainers were definitely no match for them in this regard.

The two branches of human beings had their own specialties. If they could join hands against a common foe, the Temple of Immortals and the Immortal Cultivators would be eliminated in no time. However, due to the trick of fate, there was still a long way to go before the deep misunderstanding from five thousand years ago was fully resolved.

The first assault lasted three hours. The apocalyptic beasts seemed to be butchered and barely had chance to counterattack. However, according to Xiong Wuji’s description about the entire process of a battle against the apocalypse, the real fight had only just begun.

Every battle of the apocalypse was like this. At the beginning, the qi-trainers were full of supplies and spiritual gas and at an overwhelming advantage when they met the enemy.

However, as the battle continued, the True Qi containers they carried and the spiritual gas inside their body would run out after a long fight. Eventually, they would be both exhausted and short of supplies.

To make things worse, when the qi-trainers were in the state of fighting will reverberation, they would know nothing except to march forward. Even if they were worn-out and their vitality was being drained, they would not step back anyhow. Simply speaking, they all went mad during the fight.

Many experts had collapsed to the ground and perished on the spot while they were fighting hard.

The apocalypse would often seize the moment and summon a large batch of dragon-level apocalyptic beasts to retaliate. This had often led to a tremendous loss for the qi-trainers and had nearly broken their battle formations several times throughout history.

Therefore, when the first batch of warriors became tired, the stronger experts would be deployed.

They had to charge at the beast tide without bothering about anything else and replace the qi-trainers who were becoming over-exhausted so that they could rest in the camps and refill their True Qi containers.

The replacement was key to a battle. If the first echelon failed to fall back successfully, it meant that a lot of warriors would be killed even if the battle was won in the end, and the victory would hardly be a victory at all!

“The second echelon, march out!” bellowed Xiong Wuji at the top of his voice.

The headcount of the second echelon was only one third of the first, and yet they were ten times more daunting. Every tribe sent out their best elite squads, including the Fierce Wind Assault Team and the Iron Bears Detonation Team!

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

The earth was shaking, with fractures appearing on the ground from which scorching steam was popping out.

The fractures extended deep into the black smoke in which their source was hidden deeply. As the black smoke wriggled, magnificent beasts rushed out of it!

The new apocalyptic beasts were all almost twenty meters tall. They were like moving hills and were surrounded by vague demonic fog that was burning like flames, indicating that they were capable of not only killing with their animalistic instincts but also manipulating spiritual energy in a certain mysterious way!

The dragon-level apocalyptic beasts had finally shown up!

The appearance of the dragon-level beasts greatly refreshed the ghost-level beasts, which had been cast into chaos. As if receiving the same command at the same time, they automatically regrouped around the dragon-level beasts and formed combat squads with their reinforcements as the core!

Some of the qi-trainers could not free themselves from the bloodlust. Although their spiritual gas had run out, they were still charging at such combat squads alone with nothing but their broken blades, only to be torn apart by the dragon-level beasts miserably.

“The first echelon, fall back!”

The elite teams of the six tribes had marched into the battlefield. Many experts above the 50th level of the Refinement Stage soared into the sky and aimed at a dragon-level beast before they lunged at them!

“The third echelon, go forward and cover the retreat of the first echelon!”

At Xiong Wuji’s command, the iron line constituted by countless enormous tanks and spider-like war machines pushed forward slowly but surely.

The qi-trainers responsible for the tanks and war machines were not very strong, but they had all received special training to steer the giant machines that were driven by spiritual gas.

Their mission was to push forward and form an iron defense line so that the exhausted warriors of the first echelon would return to safe area sooner.

There was also the fourth echelon after the third echelon, which included Xiong Wuji and the other top experts of the six tribes. As the reserves, they were waiting patiently and silently for the arrival of the calamity-level apocalyptic beast!

Standing on the back of a giant war machine stably as if he had been nailed to it, Li Yao was moving forward together with the third echelon while he observed the situation of the battle coldly.

Since he had never practiced or cooperated with anybody else, he would only be a nuisance if he was enlisted into the battle formation. Therefore, Xiong Wuji had sent him to the third echelon and asked him to decide what to do on his own.

Li Yao condensed his spiritual gas into needles and stimulated his brain cells in order to enter the super perceptive state.

After one month of training, he had grasped the threshold of his brain cell activity in the Refinement Stage, so he wouldn’t wreck his cerebrovascular vessels easily now.

By slightly increasing his brain cell activity, his eyes instantly blinked like a rippling lake. Everything happening in the battlefield turned into clusters of dazzling data in his mind.

Now that the war machine was about to enter the battlefield, Li Yao suddenly leapt out. The Sky Scorpion Armor turned into a streak of brightness and reached the edge of the canyon after several jumps.

Swoosh!

Li Yao moved on the vertical crags as if he were running on the ground. Sometimes, he was crawling on all fours; sometimes, he was gliding forward, pushed by his surging spiritual gas. Both like a sordid lizard and a nimble leopard, he dashed to the center of the canyon within a moment. He stomped on the cliff brutally and rushed out like a rocket with the counterforce, leaving a giant hole dozens of meters in diameter behind him!

Shua!

With the surging spiritual gas, the aura of his giant sword extended out more than a hundred meters and slapped downward like a long whip.

A large apocalyptic insect with transparent wings was hovering four to five three meters in the air and diving down to hunt the qi-trainers. Too focused on the enemies on the ground, it did not notice the incoming attack from the sky. Half of its wing was chopped off by the aura of the blade instantly, making it lose control over its body and fall to the ground.

The spurts all over Li Yao’s body were gushing air out fast, accelerating him helically and turning him into a giant revolving drill falling from the sky. Before the dragon-level beast came back to itself, his giant sword had pierced into the critical part on his abdomen and span brutally, breaking the torso of the insect into two halves!

“Careful!”

A deafening bellow from Shi Meng, captain of the Iron Bears Detonation Team, echoed from the right.

Li Yao’s heart constricted violently. He concentrated his attention and noticed that a behemothic dragon-level beast was rolling over from his left!

This eccentric beast seemed to have been a certain kind of large armadillo originally. It was covered in solid shell, and a coldly-shining sharp thorn was protruding from every piece of the shell. When it crouched, it would turn into a ball of thorns almost ten meters in diameter which would blow away or simply crush over all the qi-trainers and other beasts in its way into mud of blood!

“You are no match for it! Let me!” roared Shi Meng who had already started sprinting.

Li Yao tried to retreat his giant sword, only to find that the body liquid of the dragon-level beast under his feet was extremely thick and had stuck his blade and his boots to the ground. He only drew long translucent gel out and was not able to either free his sword or himself in the haste.

In the meantime, the stinky smell of the iron armored armadillo had almost reached the back of his head. Li Yao’s bloodshot eyes seemed to be exploding in the time of urgency. He extended his right arm and opened his hands. The shoulder plate split, and more than twenty crystal bombs that looked like iron balls rolled out of the arsenal and gathered in the front of his fist!

Li Yao put his right arm below his ribs. His upper body was almost twisted to the opposite direction of his lower body, as if he had become a battering ram that had been compressed completely. His every muscle was nearly torn apart, while helical spiritual gas revolved in front of his right arm rapidly together with more than twenty crystal bombs and formed a cone!

Half of the crystal bombs were smeared black, and the other half remained white. At that moment, the black bombs had been aimed at the iron armored armadillo.

“The 77th level of the Refinement Stage, Explosive Punch!”

After a roar, the muscles all over Li Yao’s body shrank abruptly, while his right arm drew an arc as fast as lightning and hit the shell of the iron armored armadillo brutally in dazzling brightness!

BOOM!

Because of the special design of the crystal bombs, together with the spiritual shield condensed by Li Yao’s spiritual energy, all the damage had been released forward like an arrow. Pushed by the helical spiritual gas, the more than twenty crystal bombs were detonated almost simultaneously. They congregated into an orange line of flames and pierced through the iron armored armadillo’s body directly!

The iron armored armadillo screamed miserably and fell to the ground, unable to roll forward anymore.

The previous attack had cracked the shell on its back. Blood was flowing out from the wounds, and almost all its bones had been broken. Its soft internal organs were exposed to the air, too.

Li Yao took the opportunity and drew out his sword by chopping off the thick gel with his condensed spiritual gas. He then jumped high into the sky and stabbed the giant sword into the body of the iron armored armadillo quickly until the only thing left in the air was the grip of the sword!

Chi—

At this moment, the spurts on the two sides of Li Yao’s giant sword showed their second usage. Other than increasing the stability of the sword when it was waved, they could expand the internal injuries by spraying out air currents when the sword was stabbed into the enemy’s body!

Li Yao’s spiritual gas surged out and blew into the hollow grip of the sword. Sixteen unstoppable streams of spiritual gas jetted out from the spurts of the sword and minced the soft internal organs of the iron armored armadillo like sixteen sharp blades!

The high and mighty ferocious beast finally died amid desperate screams.

Standing behind the iron armored armadillo, Li Yao raised his giant sword and waved the blade to remove the dense blood that was still mixed with the invisible aura of sword.

An unlucky ghost-level beast was precisely on the way of the invisible sword aura that had just been shaken off. It was cut into two halves before it even had the chance to scream!

Slaying two dragon-level apocalyptic beasts within a breath, including an iron armored armadillo, which ranked top ten among all the dragon-level beasts, Li Yao cast the battlefield a hundred square meters nearby into a second of weird silence with his unparalleled brutal behavior.

The qi-trainers were all dazed. The ghost-level beasts that had lost the leadership of the dragon-level beast were unable to move anymore, intimidated by Li Yao’s soaring killing intent!

Shi Meng was stunned and soaked in sweat. It was not until this moment that he knew Li Yao had not tried his best in the test. If the guy had collided into him with that punch, his right arm wouldn’t be able to move for at least half a month!

Chapter 583: Calamity Level!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Li Yao did not realize that so many pairs of shocked eyes were gazing at him, because he was still thinking about that earth-shaking punch.

The explosive strength of the iron armored armadillo was quite impressive. The previous punch had left him with heavy wounds, too. Several of his fingerbones had been entirely shattered.

However, the enormous blow just now seemed to have opened a gate that had been sealed inside his body for a long time. An uncanny power was released, which accelerated the recovery of his fingerbones and made his blood hotter than ever!

Although the physical blood on his giant sword had been shaken off, crazy redness was still flowing vaguely around the blade. It was his untamable fighting will and killing intent!

Li Yao roared and, carrying the giant sword on his shoulder, lunged at where the beasts were most numerous!

He could not tell reality from hallucination now. He sometimes knew that he was fighting the apocalyptic beasts on Iron Plateau, and sometimes he forgot everything and became a Titan Warrior slaying various kinds of ferocious insects on unknown planets.

His brain waves were spreading farther and father and vibrating at a higher and higher frequency. He could sense everybody’s fighting will, which had become almost tangible. The entire battlefield was a simmering ocean of fighting will!

Slashing, slaughtering, and exploding! After every movement, his nerve endings would shiver beyond his control, giving him ultimate pleasure and a deeper understanding about the truth of fighting.

Suddenly, there was nothing in front of him and nobody to kill.

Li Yao suddenly felt lost. It was at this moment that he heard Shi Meng shout, “Sand Scorpion! Sand Scorpion! Fall back now! You’ve been fighting for two hours. Your spiritual gas is running out! Retreat quickly!”

Li Yao was suddenly greatly alarmed. As if somebody had tossed a bucket of cold water on his head, he finally regained the ability to think normally.

In his own memory, the battle had only been going on for no more than five minutes.

He finally understood why so many qi-trainers dwelled in the world of killing and were unwilling to quit the battlefield even when they were exhausted.

The feeling was too wonderful and addictive. One would only sink deeper and deeper until one could not free oneself anymore.

The Sky Scorpion Armor had almost turned into a pile of wasted copper and iron. His giant sword was full of dents, as if it were a chainsword. There was no part on his body that was not aching. He felt that his several veins and nerves had been cut apart by burning clamps, and spiritual gas was flowing violently and messily inside his body due to the factures.

Li Yao grunted and almost fell to his knees. He hurried to stab his giant sword into the ground as a club to support himself.

Looking ahead, he found that he had marched forward almost a thousand meters against the direction of the beast tide, leaving a gory path behind him. The five hundred square meters nearby was filled with the bodily fluids of the apocalyptic beasts. There was no telling what the broken corpses had once been at all.

The apocalyptic beasts further ahead that were still alive only dared to bare their fangs at him from afar, but none of them had the courage to draw close, as if the five hundred meters around Li Yao was a swamp of death!

Shi Meng and six members of the Iron Bears Detonation Team rushed close, carried Li Yao, and ran back immediately. Their voices were all shaking. “Sand Scorpion, you are too crazy! Even Chief Xiong was not as insane as you all those years ago. You broke out of the frontline and moved so deep into the beast tide that you almost pierced through it!”

“The chiefs and experts of several other tribes were all asking who you were. Now, you name is truly resounding in all the six tribes! Chief Xiong asked me to bring you back no matter what. Take a rest after you’re back and refill your True Qi containers. You can still fight again later if you want!”

Li Yao breathed heavily. He felt drained at this moment, and his body felt like it was soaking in a thick, sticky lake that was still rising. He was so tired that he did not even have the strength to blink.

Right at this moment—

The earth trembled all of a sudden. An immense blast came over from the depths of the black smoke, accompanied by a high-pitched shriek.

Everyone within five kilometers was knocked over. Even the heavy tanks weighing dozens of tons were pushed back several meters!

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

The black smoke shrank and expanded repetitively as if an enormous heart more than ten kilometers in diameter was beating.

As the frequency of the heartbeat became higher and higher, ten seconds later, the area above the black smoke blossomed like a bud, from which a colossal apocalyptic beast soared into the sky!

The apocalyptic beast was apparently much more devastating than the previous ghost-level beasts and dragon-level beasts. It was like a hybrid of a mosquito and a longhorn beetle, also known as a longicorn. Covered by a glittering black shell, which was painted with gold stripes, it gave every sign that it was an insect, and yet it seemed as proud and magnificent as a lion or a tiger. Its antennae, which were more than fifty meters long, were shivering and emitting earsplitting noises like two giant masts!

“Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!”

It was an extremely intense mental attack!

“It’s the calamity-level beast, the strongest one of all the eccentric beasts in the apocalypse!” shouted Shi Meng loudly.

Every qi-trainer within hundreds of square meters from the calamity-level beast was staggering in agony as if they were drunk regardless of what level they were in. Many of them were covering their ears with their hands. Some of them were even digging into their earholes with their fingers until they were bleeding, but they still failed to stop the noises from piercing through their skulls.

Soon, somebody was foaming at the mouth, somebody’s face was covered in blood, and large bumps were protruding out of somebody’s head as if the pressure inside the head was so high that the skull was about to break!

Longicorn had bad sight and could only distinguish objects with their antennas.

This calamity-level longicorn, however, had a pair of big crimson compound eyes with amazing eyesight. When its elytra 1 , which had turned into bone, were fully opened, sixteen streams of air currents spurted from its back and accelerated the insect to an unbelievable speed. It dived down and extended its forelegs toward a heavy tank, before it brought the tank to the air, hovered for a moment, and smashed it at a giant vehicle nearby. With an earsplitting explosion, the two war machines were both destroyed!

“The calamity-level apocalyptic beast has arrived!”

“Those below the 70th level of the Refinement Stage, retreat five hundred meters immediately and clean up the dragon-level and ghost-level beasts on the battlefield!”

“This calamity-level beast is good at mental attacks. All qi-trainers specializing in mental attacks, counterattack in advance!”

Thunderous sounds echoed above the battlefield.

DONG! DONG DONG DONG DONG!

While all the qi-trainers below the 70th level of the Refinement Stage were retreating from the surrounding of the calamity-level beast, the eight drumming tanks of the Giant Axe Tribe were marching forward unstoppably, and the drumming was becoming louder and louder. The eight tanks were as overpowering as eight crystal warships!

The drums of the Giant Axe Tribe were the best magical equipment for mental warfare. Not only could they boost the morale and enhance the fighting will of the warriors on their side, they could also resist the mental bombardment from the enemy!

DONG! DONG DONG DONG! DONG DONG DONG DONG!

The exciting drumming rose up from the ground and blew at the calamity-level beast like thunder!

The calamity-level beast shrieked. It suddenly opened its mouthpart and spurted a black tornado!

The tornado wriggled and twisted in the air.

Li Yao observed more carefully and discovered that the tornado was actually made of countless tiny black beetles!

The beetles hummed and surrounded one of the drumming tanks instantly. Then, after an earthshaking explosion, all the black beetles burst into flames and turned into small burning fireballs that were flying everywhere!

The burning beetles were not dead yet. They were all crashing at the drumming tank and would explode whenever they hit anything.

The beetles contained a lot of oily materials, and nothing could stop them from exploding. The drumming tank was immediately drowned in a sea of flames. All the qi-trainers of the Giant Axe Tribe on the tank were ignited!

However, although furious flames were consuming them, their movements were still neat and harmonious, and they were still beating the drums hard in the fire!

The drumming mixed with flames was brought to the sky hundreds of meters high and turned even louder and more enthusiastic.

The other seven tanks of the Giant Axe Tribe seemed unconcerned of what had happened to their companions and continued moving on.

The drumming would not stop as long as any of them were alive!

“Go!”

“Go!”

“Go!”

Inside the reserves team at the rear of the camps on the both sides of the canyon, the top experts of the six tribe who had waited long enough finally appeared. Thanks to the precious time earned by the drumming tanks, they’d managed to approach the calamity-level beast!

Li Yao gritted his teeth and tried to march forward, too, only to almost fall off to the ground when he took the first step. Luckily, two members of the Iron Bears Detonation Team caught him.

“You’ve run out of strength because of the prolonged fighting. You must have some food, treat your wounds, and replenish your supply of True Qi containers before you go to the battlefield again, or you’ll be committing suicide!”

Shi Meng strode forward, the Wolf Fangs on his body clicking each other. He held two of them in his hands.

“A war cannot be won by one person. Rest assured and take a rest now. We’ve got it!”

Li Yao felt warm and nodded his head solemnly. He retreated from the battlefield with the help of the two members of the Iron Bears Detonation Team.

“Uncle Sand Scorpion!”

Hardly had he returned to the back of the iron defense line made of hundreds of heavy tanks when Wu Mayan rushed to greet him.

The young man’s face was covered in dust, and he had bruises all over his body. Thankfully, there were no heavy wounds. He was in quite high spirits.

“Uncle Sand Scorpion, you were so awesome! I saw everything from back here. You put down one ghost-level apocalyptic beast with each attack. Even the dragon-level beasts could not block your sword! You were definitely the most eye-catching one in this battle!”

After more than half a day’s chaotic battle, it was almost noon. The qi-trainers had been too focused on the fight on the battlefield to distinguish where they were. Therefore, Li Yao was seeing not only the qi-trainers of the Furious Bears Tribe, but also those from the Silver Moon Tribe, the Heaven Wolves Tribe, and even some from the Burning Sun Tribe, the Feathered Snakes Tribe, and the Giant Axe Tribe who had been cut off from their main troops, blocked by the apocalyptic beasts, and forced to retreat to the Furious Bears Tribe’s camp.

The six tribes of Iron Plateau worshipped strength more than anything else. Regardless of their relationship with the Furious Bears Tribe, everybody had been conquered by Li Yao’s valiancy and were eyeing him with respect.

The name of ‘Sand Scorpion’ had spread among many qi-trainers.

Chapter 584: Slaying the Calamity

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Sha Yulong had come to the frontline for the battle of the apocalypse, too. She examined Li Yao’s body as quickly as possible and found that he was merely too exhausted and had not suffered many heavy wounds. Therefore, she simply took out the secret medicines refined out of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to help him recover his strength faster.

Together with Wu Mayan, Li Yao ascended to a temporary watch tower. They observed the situation while they rested.

Dozens of experts, including the chiefs of several tribes, had surrounded the calamity-level beast from various directions. Fireballs and blasts bombarded the calamity-level beast nonstop and practically encased it in a shell of smoke!

However, this particular calamity-level beast was extremely hard to deal with. It boasted advanced flight ability. Thanks to certain spurting organs inside its body, it could jet intense air currents when it fully opened its elytra and accelerate itself to the speed of sound within a moment. Therefore, the qi-trainers all found it difficult to lock onto the calamity-level beast.

Furthermore, the shell of the calamity-level beast was oily, slippery, and curved; whatever hit the shell would simply slide away.

Several experts had tried to jump onto its back, only to be shaken off by the calamity-level beast after several bumps.

Besides, the calamity-level beast could launch mental attacks with its antennae that targeted the qi-trainers’ brains directly and spray mouthpart black beetles from its mouth that could self-detonate and trigger bizarre fire that was extremely hard to put out.

Moreover, with its enormous body size and amazing high speed, it was diving down from the sky all the time and knocking over several heavy tanks and war machines with each run. Some low-level qi-trainers were even directly torn apart by the blast when the calamity-level beast flew past them!

After dozens of rounds of fighting, after numerous casualties on the qi-trainers’ side, the first crack appeared on the shell of the calamity-level beast, but it became even more daunting and crazy than before!

“The woman tied with two gold serpents riding on the white falcon is Lan Yi, the best expert of the younger generation of the Feathered Snakes Tribe.

“The one carrying two millstone-like axes who took a blow from the calamity-level beast the hard way just now is Guan Hao, the top expert of the younger generation in the Giant Axe Tribe!

“The guy who almost chopped off one antenna of the calamity-level beast is Yan Chifeng, the young expert of the Burning Sun Tribe who rose to fame in recent years. He is Yan Chihuo’s elder brother. The guy is a maniac, too focused on training to care about anything in the outside world. He didn’t show up when the three tribes gathered in Furious Bears City. Therefore, there’s no grudge between us!”

Wu Mayan’s eyes were glittering as he analyzed the participants on the battlefield for Li Yao.

He had always strived to be the strongest warrior on Iron Plateau. So, he had collected a lot of files about the experts of the other tribes, especially the younger ones, in his spare time.

“The fellow who carries guns all over his body is Gao Lang of the Heaven Wolves Tribe, and the guy wearing fancy clothes with nine swords on his back is Wen Renxiao of the Silver Moon Tribe. They are both experts above the 80th level of the Refinement Stage!

“The five of them, together with Shi Meng and Xiong Zhenzhen of our tribe, are the seven most marvelous warriors in the younger generation of the six tribes of Iron Plateau. But right now, I’m afraid that you must be considered, too. No. In my opinion, you are more awesome than any of them!”

The biggest advantage of the path of Cultivation that the qi-trainers walked on was that training was easy and convenient. As long as one could overcome the pain when one’s veins and nerves were being expanded, one could surpass the 20th or even the 30th level of the Refinement Stage in less than twenty years if one trained oneself hard, thereby becoming a reasonably good warrior.

But the biggest shortcoming of such a path was that the prime years of the qi-trainers were too short and that they were always restrained by their age.

For a Cultivator who paid enough attention to fitness and practiced Soul Converging Techniques, they could burst out unparalleled strength even when they were two hundred years old.

However, since the qi-trainers were burning their soul and wielding their spiritual gas unceasingly, their bodies went downhill after they reached eighty years old, and they could not stay in their peak for very long.

On Iron Plateau, ‘the biggest fists belong to the young’ was the ultimate truth. Therefore, all of the tribes attached great importance to the education of young people. In the battle of the apocalypse, the young experts were asked to fight in the front lines together with the seasoned warriors!

Li Yao observed the battle for a while and somehow felt that something was not right. He pondered for a while and realized that, although the battle had been on for a long time, Xiong Wuji, as the best warrior of the six tribes on Iron Plateau, still hadn’t taken any action.

“Right, where is Father Xiong?”

Wu Mayan looked around. His eyes suddenly shone as he exclaimed, “There he is!”

Li Yao raised his head. He found Xiong Wuji standing alone on the peak of the crags, hundreds of meters high. The chief seemed to be both observing the overall situation of the battle and waiting for something to appear patiently.

Frowning, Li Yao concentrated his attention and translated what he saw into series of data, while he analyzed the activity and attack patterns of the calamity-level beast quickly.

Weakness, weakness… No calamity-level beast could be devoid of weaknesses!

Li Yao squinted and continued observing for long time. He then turned around and, reflecting on the whole plan for a while, said to Wu Mayan in a low voice, “Listen carefully. I want you to do something for me.”

…

Ten minutes later…

BOOM! BOOM!

Li Yao’s scorpion-like tank emanated earsplitting fulminations. Large clusters of white smoke sprayed out from every gap between the curved shells on the surface of the vehicle.

Sitting on the tank, Li Yao tested and adjusted the angle of every tube.

It was not until this moment that many qi-trainers from other tribes knew that he was the knight who rescued somebody else in the nests of the Iron Ore Worms previously. They all cheered for him!

Li Yao crouched on the tank. His Sky Scorpion Armor seemed to have melded with the tank, becoming one entity. He zigzagged for a while at the rear of the battlefield before he suddenly took a big turn and rushed at the precipitous cliff on one side of the canyon.

The moment he was going to hit the cliff, Li Yao lifted the head of the tank and made the tank perpendicular to the ground. Then he drove on the cliff and soared upward. Half a minute later, Li Yao reached the top of the canyon!

Looking down from his new vantage point, Li Yao could see nothing but smoke and dust.

However, the calamity-level beast was attacking so furiously that even someone blind could feel where it was.

Li Yao narrowed his eyes and gazed at the experts who were attacking the calamity-level beast in a group. His computational ability increased nonstop as he calculated the deadliest moment to attack.

Finally, the calamity-level beast burst into an outrage again after it was hit brutally by Guan Hao’s axe. It sprayed a wave of self-detonating beetles first and then dived down from the air, snatching a war machine and tearing it apart!

“Now is the time!”

The scorpion-like tank roared like an iron beast and rushed at the edge of the cliff as if it were an arrow just released from a bow. Drawing a sharp arc in the midair, the tank aimed at where the calamity-level beast was precisely!

The calamity-level beast was feeling dizzy because of the collective attack from the experts well above the 70th level of the Refinement Stage. Escaping its attention, the scorpion-like tank managed to get right in front of it!

The antennas of the calamity-level beast shivered rapidly. It spat a mouthful of self-detonating beetles and formed a black shield in front of its body!

The scorpion-tank, however, accelerated itself by spurting large clusters of air currents and made two circles in the air before it crashed into the wall of black beetles and turned into a fireball!

At this moment, the tank passed by the left eye of the calamity-level beast.

But judging from the trajectory of the sliding, the tank was about to brush past the calamity-level beast, and there was no way that it could hurt the eye.

It was also what the calamity-level beast thought.

However, a large and thick tail pierced out of the fireball into a corner of the calamity-level beast’s eye!

The tank dangled from the eye of the calamity-level beast with the stinger on the tail as the hook; so deep was the stinger that it was impossible to shake off.

Before the calamity-level beast was able to grab it with its forelegs, the scorpion-like tank exploded intensely. Countless pieces of the tank immediately turned one of the calamity-level beast’s eye into a hole mixed with blood and flesh!

“Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!” The calamity-level beast screamed miserably.

Li Yao, on the other hand, had leapt out of the fireball the second before the explosion.

The Sky Scorpion Armor had been stained with a lot of the thick liquids from the black beetles. It was now on fire and turning him into a man-shaped flame.

However, in light of the principles of crystal suit designs and crafted by Li Yao himself, the Sky Scorpion Armor was both tight and heatproof. The fire would not leak in any time soon.

How could the heat alone stop a monster like Li Yao?

Shua!

Li Yao splayed his hands, one sharp blade ejecting from each finger. He grasped the shell on the back of the calamity-level beast and moved forward inch by inch with his arms.

The calamity-level beast sensed that the enemy was on its back, too. Its antennae started twitching violently and launched mental attacks nonstop, and it shook crazily in the air, trying to shake Li Yao off its body.

The other experts on the ground and in the air were all dazed. They did not know how tight and heatproof the Sky Scorpion Armor was and were all stunned to see a burning man clutching the back of the irritated calamity-level beast.

A moment later, they all realized what Li Yao was trying to do. Somebody immediately roared, “Attack with full strength now. Distract its attention!”

Everybody spared no efforts, not even caring that they might die because of exhaustion after the battle, while they launched storm-like attacks!

With their cooperation, Li Yao crawled to the other eye of the calamity-level beast, which failed to get a moment of rest, slowly but surely.

The crimson eye was like ten thousand hexagonal rubies piled together. It was glittering and emitting soul-stirring brightness.

Chi!

Suddenly, intense air currents spurted out from the gap of the shell on the top of the eye and knocked Li Yao off!

However, the moment Li Yao was blown away, he had unsheathed his giant sword and stabbed it in the opposite direction of the course of his flight!

The giant sword dissected itself again and was enlengthened to more than ten meters. In a weird curve, the blade pierced into the calamity-level beast’s remaining eye deeply.

Li Yao released the giant sword. Spiritual gas spurted out from the grip of the sword and pushed it forwards. Eventually, the sword was reassembled, with one third of its body buried in the eye of the calamity-level beast.

The eye of the calamity-level beast was a compound one. Even if part of the eye was damaged, it wouldn’t lose all its vision.

However…

BOOM!

In the next moment, the giant sword exploded brutally just like the tank had!

There were fewer crystals in the giant sword than in the tank. But since all the damage had been aimed in one direction, not only was the eye of the calamity-level beast completely destroyed, some of the shrapnel even reached deeper into the enemy’s brain and diminished its thinking and sensing abilities heavily!

Chapter 585: Best Warrior of Iron Plateau!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

The abdomen of the calamity-level beast emitted shrieks that could tear the qi-trainers’ brains apart. Every stripe on the shell was glittering. The two antennae were shaking so violently that they seemed as if they could break apart at any moment. It was apparently in insufferable agony!

However, the senses of an insect were not entirely based on its eyes. This calamity-level beast was a biological weapon produced by the egg of apocalypse and had the distinctive features of many insects. Other than its eyes, it could also perceive the surroundings with its antennae.

Hating Li Yao’s guts, the calamity-level beast rushed at Li Yao crazily!

Drawing a helical line of fire in midair, Li Yao fled toward the back of the battlefield and dived to the ground.

The calamity-level beast, in excruciating pain, focused all its attention on Li Yao while it pursued him.

The two parties were both amazingly fast. They hit the ground in no time.

On the ground was an iron fortress made of five or so heavy tanks and war machines!

The spiritual gas surging out of the Sky Scorpion Armor was now mixed with dazzling flames right now. Li Yao roared and crammed through the narrow gaps in the iron fortress!

The calamity-level beast was too huge, and its brain was too seriously damaged to determine the size of the object in front of it. It thought that there was merely a heavy tank in front of it and therefore crashed into the object brutally, trying to knock it over.

However, it only ended up crashing into the iron fortress!

The several heavy tanks constituting the iron fortress were all vehicles used to carry the large True Qi artillery. When the situation demanded, they could serve as artillery bases. Therefore, they all had stabilizer feet that could pierce deep into the ground and fasten themselves.

Right now, the stabilizer feet had all been extended deep the underground as the tanks were deployed as artillery bases. The tanks were also connected with each other with thick chains and couldn’t have been steadier.

The calamity-level beast struggled hard for a while. More than ten chains were broken apart, but there were still several dozen more chains that bound it to the heavy tanks.

The calamity-level beast tried again, but there was no time for that. The cannonballs piled in the iron fortress, which could almost be called an arsenal, were detonated at the same time. The fireball consumed everything within two hundred square meters nearby. The blast from the explosion even knocked several tanks a thousand meters away.

The relatively weak qi-trainers could not hear anything after a dull pain in their ears. They could only watch a giant mushroom cloud rising into the sky slowly and eclipsing the apocalypse cloud not far away, which was now at its most lackluster.

When the fireball finally died down, a giant pit almost twenty meters deep appeared on the ground. All the heavy tanks had been blown to smithereens in the previous explosion, along with the calamity-level beast. Much of the metal on the tanks had been melted and was flowing inside the body of the beast.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Countless experts approached the calamity-level beast and gave the thrashing pest a final strike.

Insect-type apocalyptic beasts were extremely vigorous. Some of them could go on a rampage as if nothing had happened even when their heads were chopped off. Therefore, one could never rest assured until they were fully shattered!

It was the lesson learned from blood and tears in the hundreds of battles before.

But it was none of Li Yao’s business now.

After running away as quickly as possible for more than a hundred meters, he took off the burning armor on his body and collapsed to the ground.

The demonic flames of the beetles were extremely weird. Despite the protection of the Sky Scorpion Armor, a lot of black and purple blisters had formed on his body. Some kind of poison seemed to be mixed in them, too, as the wounds were extremely stinky.

Hardly had he rolled on the ground to put down the flames when countless hands lifted him up high.

Countless qi-trainers of Iron Plateau were cheering for him. They were echoing the same thing.

“Sand Scorpion! Sand Scorpion! Sand Scorpion! Sand Scorpion!”

No matter who killed the calamity-level beast in the end, it was Li Yao who had given it the critical strike. Nobody would rob him of the glory. He was destined to be the most brilliant nova in this battle of the apocalypse!

Soon, cheers burst out from the front, indicating that the calamity-level beast had been unquestionably slain!

All left on the battlefield were small fries. It was only a matter of time before the final victory was secured.

Li Yao was thrown into the sky and caught by the crowd. His head was dizzy, and he was extremely excited. Yet, he had a weird feeling. Looking ahead, he discovered that Xiong Wuji was still standing on the top of the cliff hundreds of meters high. The chief’s eyes were even sharper than before, as if he was searching for something.

Right when Li Yao was baffled by Xiong Wuji’s odd behavior, and right when everybody was ecstatic, intense quakes came from underground!

The shaking was so strong that hundreds of cracks immediately appeared on the ground and crawled to the crags on the two sides of the canyon, reaching the top in to time.

Ka! Ka! Ka! Ka!

The cracks interconnected and spread afar like a spider net, covering the steep cliffs. Large rocks fell from the sky and triggered enormous dust when they hit the ground, as if the bottom of the canyon was a dim, yellow sky!

“What’s going on?”

“An earthquake?”

“Not good. We are now at the center of the canyon. The crags on our two sides might collapse and bury us!”

“That’s—”

Everyone, including Li Yao, looked at the center of the quakes behind the defense line of the Furious Bears Tribe in shock and desperation.

In less than three seconds, the ground there rose up abruptly, forming a hill dozens of meters high.

Then, the hill suddenly exploded. A gargantuan figure almost a hundred meters long gradually revealed itself in the dirty smoke!

What a terrifying apocalyptic beast it was!

It looked like an Iron Ore Worm, except that it was ten times larger. The length of its body that had crept out of the ground was already almost a hundred meters long, and its width was close to ten meters. Sharp thorns covered its body. Different sections of the body were twisting and revolving in different directions, making it look like a super large excavator!

The apocalyptic beast that looked like a longicorn just now was merely an ant compared to the newcomer!

A heavy tank was precisely on the spot where the new apocalyptic beast dug out of the ground. It had been blown into the sky, only to be wolfed down by the apocalyptic beast in the next moment.

BOOM!

The remaining cannonballs and crystals inside the heavy tank exploded. Two vast fireballs popped out of the super-large worm. Yet, it couldn’t have cared less about it and simply spurted a mouthful of flames as if it were burping after it swallowed the remains of the burning tank.

“This—this is a calamity-level apocalyptic beast?”

“A second calamity-level apocalyptic beast?”

Everybody was dumbfounded. Even the chiefs of the other tribes were lost for words for a moment.

In the time of urgency, Xiong Wuji leapt down from the cliff and fully released the terrifying capability of the 99th level of the Refinement Stage. Like a falling star, he landed on the head of the super-large worm within a breath, and he slashed down his three-meter long saber!

DANG!

The saber and the super-large worm’s head collided in a thunderous sound. The saber cut deep into the super-large worm’s head and almost slashed its circular mouthpart into two halves, but it was pinched by the worm and Xiong Wuji failed to withdraw it quickly!

The super-large worm retreated underground in agony.

But Xiong Wuji was absolutely fearless. Spiritual gas surged out of his fists, which were expanding crazily in furious flames, as he punched the mouthpart of the super-large worm time and time again.

After each punch, several tusks of the worm were smashed into pieces!

The worm and the warrior slowly sank underground just like that!

The earth was still shaking violently nonstop.

Everybody was stunned at what they saw. Li Yao was the first to come to himself. He quickly run to the edge of the cave that the super-large worm had slithered out of, only to discover that the cave was too deep to measure and seemed to lead to the center of the planet!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The earth was as unsteady as an ocean that was experiencing a tsunami. A bump dozens of meters high would rise up; next, countless hollows would collapse, revealing the bottomless holes below from which smelly air currents were spraying out.

The crags on the two sides of the canyon were collapsing. Minor downfalls were taking place everywhere!

It was not until the intense quakes lasted almost twenty minutes that the super-large worm rushed out of the cave in the center of the battlefield again, except that it was extremely lethargic this time. Hardly had it craned its head out of the ground when it collapsed and screamed miserably, writhing.

After it rolled on the ground for five minutes, the super-large worm gradually lost momentum. Like a water bag that was riddled with holes, bluish bodily fluids flowed out from its wounds, and it slowly shriveled up.

From its mouthpart, which had lost almost all its teeth, a man neither tall nor strong walked out unhurriedly.

Everybody gasped.

His body was stained with thick liquids that seemed to be very corrosive. Many of his body parts had been eroded to the bones. His right arm had been cut apart from the elbow. Blood was springing out from the wounds and leaving a red river while he stepped forward.

He was literally drawing a blood line as he made each step!

Li Yao, Sha Yulan, Wu Mayan, and the rest of the qi-trainers of the Furious Bears Tribe hurried to rush forward to support him.

“Chief!”

Before Xiong Wuji collapsed to the ground, Li Yao and Wu Mayan, one from the left and the other from the right, caught him in time. The man had the weight of a mountain!

“Father Xiong!”

Wu Mayan looked at Xiong Wuji’s vanishing right hand and knew that the worm must’ve swallowed it and grinded it into pieces; it was impossible to get it back. He was so worried that his eyes turned red.

“Don’t cry.”

Xiong Wuji still had the strength to smile. He said softly, “I still have a left hand. It is enough for me to resist another apocalypse outbreak and earn you twenty years of time. Twenty years later, when a third battle of apocalypse begins, it will be little ones such as you who must really play your part!”

“Father Xiong!”

Wu Mayan sniffed hard, trying to hold back his tears. Yet, his voice was shivering. “How did you know that there was another calamity-level apocalyptic beast and that it would be such a large one?”

“Because the previous one was too weak.”

Xiong Wuji said softly, “Judging from the scale of the apocalypse cloud, enormous energy should’ve been contained inside the egg of apocalypse. But the apocalyptic beasts born from it were too weak and were almost annihilated by us within one day. Even the ‘calamity-level beast’ that showed up at the end was weaker than it should have been.

“If history is any reference, several experts above the 70th level of the Refinement Stage should have to sacrifice themselves in order to slay a calamity-level beast. But this time, barely any of us were seriously hurt. It definitely did not feel right.

“Only 70% of the resources were used to produce those apocalyptic beasts. Where did the remaining 30% resources go?

“Therefore, I estimated that there was another calamity-level beast. No. In fact, it was the only real calamity-level beast in this battle against the apocalypse!”

Li Yao took a deep breath to suppress the shock in his heart.

Going underground and slaying a calamity-level beast purely on his own!

That was exactly what Xiong Wuji, the strongest expert on Iron Plateau in the 99th level of the Refinement Stage and the best warrior of the six tribes, had done!

Chapter 586: Victory Ceremony!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Five days after the battle of apocalypse…

Eggs of apocalypse were not simple meteorites; they were more like queer plants whose roots could reach thousands of meters below the ground to absorb the nutrition and various other resources in the deep mother lodes in order to produce terrifying apocalyptic beasts.

Based on the technology of Iron Plateau and the trend of development, such deeply buried assets could not have been exploited within the next few hundred years.

Therefore, the corpses of the apocalyptic beasts and the broken pieces of the eggs of apocalypse after they exploded were all extremely valuable.

From the dead bodies of the beasts, the Iron Plateau natives could not only collect the unreachable resources from underground but also gather a lot of super alloys that could not be synthesized by themselves.

Only after clearing the battlefield for five days were all the dead bodies and broken pieces on the ground scrutinized and amassed. Still, below the ground, the roots of the meteorite were still waiting to be excavated.

Such resources would help the torch of humanity on Iron Plateau burn for the next ten years.

According to the custom, all the warriors participating in the battle of apocalypse were invited to Furious Bears City regardless of which tribe they belonged to.

A grand carnival, which would last ten days and ten nights, began in Furious Bears City. The qi-trainers from the other five tribes, as the most honorable guests, received the best treatment for their life-and-death fights, which had saved countless people from the Furious Bears Tribe.

The young qi-trainers from different tribes also took the opportunity to get to know each other and tried to build up their social network. Some of their lifelong brothers were actually met in such occasions.

Many other young men were entertaining themselves day and night after they were drunk.

Iron Plateau was quite open-minded in this regard. For the survival of the civilization, the strong experts were expected to have more children. Such ‘communication’ between tribes was of paramount importance to improve the bloodlines of the certain tribes. Not only was it not forbidden, it was even something that was encouraged.

The children conceived on such occasions were all valuable treasures. They would not be despised even if they did not know who their father was. The tribe would offer a lot of allowances to the children to help them grow healthily and set them on the path of training.

All in all, for ordinary people and the low-level qi-trainers, this was the moment of pleasure after a life-threatening battle!

As for the leadership of the six tribes, they had gathered in Furious Bears City, too, to discuss the credits of every warrior in the battle and distribute the trophies accordingly.

They would also try to settle the minor conflicts that had arisen between the tribes over the past ten years and those that might occur in the next ten years due to the different ideologies of development. They would revise the rules on how to handle such conflicts when they happened, too. Essentially, it was a grand alliance meeting for the six tribes.

The six tribes of Iron Plateau had kept the fire of civilization burning for thousands of years due to such a convention.

Furious Bears City had now become an ocean of excitement. Although night had fallen, the city was as bright as day because of the brilliant lights. All the chimneys were spurting steam that were mixed with fireworks crystals nonstop. The smoke was colorful and dazzling in the night sky, constituting glittering clouds and illuminating Furious Bears City as if it were a flamboyant paradise.

There was nothing but cheers and laughter on the street. After going through life and death together, even the qi-trainers from the Burning Sun Tribe, the Feathered Snakes Tribe, and the Giant Axe Tribe, who had been in a bad relationship with the host tribe, had become the most welcomed guests. Whenever they saw qi-trainers from the other five tribes, the residents of Furious Bears City would crowd forward unanimously and lift them high into the sky as if they were great heroes.

Many passionate girls were also taking the opportunity to whisper their addresses to them or even simply slipping little notes on which their addresses were written into the qi-trainers’ pockets.

On a corner of Sha Yulan’s hospital, inside a single ward, Li Yao was emotionless as if he were in a vacuum because he was fully focused on the refinement of a magical equipment component.

Over the past month, he had been living in this place. This particular ward had been modified into a minor workshop by him.

The heavy work such as forging and tempering had to be done in the weapon factory, but the delicate work such as polishing, micro-carving, and assembling could be done in this place.

After the battle against the apocalypse, Li Yao did not waste any second in celebration; he was dedicated to the maintenance of the Sky Scorpion Armor and the recreation of his tank.

The work took him three days. During his spare time, he also drafted a brand-new design after thorough consideration, and he had finally created a piece of new magical equipment based on the design.

Ka Da!

Li Yao placed the last gear into the magical equipment and sent a stream of spiritual gas into it softly. The five iron fingers of the magical equipment immediately started bouncing agilely.

What he had refined was a True Qi artificial arm.

By altering the angle, intensity and direction of the inputting spiritual gas, the fingers could be manipulated very nimbly.

It was not a piece of delicate magical equipment per se, but Li Yao had put a lot of thought into the materials of the artificial arm, and he was certain that he had done the job with the best of his skills in tempering.

He had employed every forging technique he knew, such as ‘Casting Dragon Scales’ and ‘Seven Layered Heavens’. At first glance, it was just a black, unattractive artificial arm made of iron, but in fact, it was much harder than many artificial arms made of super alloys. Also, it was packed with spiritual gas tubes and spurts both inside and outside. Therefore, it was particularly suitable for qi-trainers.

Xiong Wuji’s capability had been greatly compromised after he lost his right arm. If he put on the artificial arm, the loss could be made up for more or less.

Li Yao squinted and appreciated his masterpiece, greatly satisfied. Dwelling in the world of magical equipment, he found himself unconcerned of the liveliness and laughter in the city.

Right then, somebody knocked the door rapidly. Li Yao knew it was Wu Mayan the moment he heard the sound.

Parceling the artificial arm with a grey cloth carefully and putting it into his backpack, Li Yao opened the door.

“Uncle Sand Scorpion!”

Wu Mayan was quite excited. His hair and clothes were both somewhat messy; there was no telling how many girls had tried to stop him while he was on his way to the hospital. “Father Xiong asked me to invite you to join the ceremony tonight!

“He knows that you prefer quietness to rambunctiousness. However, it is different tonight. It’s the ceremony for all qi-trainers!”

Wu Mayan explained what would happen while they walked forward. Li Yao only learned at this moment that, according to the tradition of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, only the warriors who participated in the battle of the apocalypse would be considered real qi-trainers. The purpose of the ceremony was to grant the title of ‘qi-trainer’ to the participants of the battle such himself!

Since there were too many qi-trainers who had joined the battle against the apocalypse, the ceremony was conducted in the central squares of all five districts in Furious Bears City. Li Yao and Wu Mayan arrived at the main square, which was the largest of all.

The ceremony had long begun. Hundreds of colorful bonfires were burning in the vast square, each surrounded by a circle of food. Hundreds of qi-trainers were talking and laughing as they patted each other’s shoulders. Some of the qi-trainers were dancing wildly and excitedly around their bonfire, while some others, who were half drunk, were wrestling half for real and half for fun. The ambience was both warm and friendly.

Wu Mayan brought Li Yao to a bonfire, which seemed to be occupied by the young experts who had greatly distinguished themselves in the previous battle of the apocalypse. Their arrival caught everyone’s attention.

Three of the young experts stood up. They were wearing the badges of Burning Sun, Feathered Snakes, and Giant Axe respectively.

Li Yao recognized that they were his comrades who had fought against the giant longicorn together with him. According to Wu Mayan, they were the top experts in the younger generation of the three tribes.

“Guan Hao, of the Giant Axe Tribe!”

A lofty and strong young man, with a disproportionately big head and a square face that looked like the body of an axe, grinned at Li Yao.

“Lan Yi, of the Feathered Snakes Tribe!”

A slender woman with red hair, which was tied up with two gold serpents, was eyeing Li Yao with great interest.

“Yan Chifeng, of the Burning Sun Tribe.”

Yan Chifeng looked like an ordinary man. His height and weight were not impressive for an Iron Plateau native, but his fists were shockingly big and seemed abnormal compared to his other body parts. He must’ve put a lot of hard work into his hands.

Yan Chifeng seemed to be the leader of the three. There was not much delight on his face. He said to Li Yao solemnly, “I thought that Xiong Zhenzhen and Shi Meng were the strongest warriors in the younger generation of the Furious Bears Tribe. However, your performance was doubtlessly the most brutal of all in the battle of the apocalypse.

“Over the past few days, we’ve trained with Xiong Zhenzhen and Shi Meng several times in Furious Bears City, with victories and failures on both sides. But it was quite a shame that we never found you! Today, we finally meet each other formally. However, it is the ceremony, and we cannot fight properly. If so, what is the point of meeting? Why don’t we make an appointment now so that we can fight each other to our hearts’ content next time we meet?”

As it turned out, the man was truly an out-and-out training maniac. He seemed to be unaware of the notion of small talk at all and went directly to the topic of fighting the moment they met each other!

However, it matched Li Yao’s taste precisely.

After the battle of the apocalypse, Li Yao sensed that he had a deeper understanding about the utilization of spiritual gas. Also, he had gained a lot of experience on the blood-soaked battlefield. There were signs that he might make a breakthrough soon, but he did not know whom to turn to yet.

Before, he had been communicating with Xiong Wuji. However, Xiong Wuji had suffered heavy wounds in the battle. Not only did he lose his right arm, his internal organs and his brain had also been severely affected. There was no way that the chief could practice with him after only several days.

Now that the three young experts had fed themselves to his mouth, he couldn’t have been happier to accept them.

Therefore, he nodded and said coarsely, “I will be training in the temple of techniques tomorrow morning.”

The three of them immediately beamed with joy. Guan Hao, the expert from the Giant Axe Tribe, laughed and remarked, “Excellent. Very straightforward. As expected of the most brilliant nova in the battle of the apocalypse! Let’s bring Wen Renxiao of the Silver Moon Tribe and Gao Lang of the Heaven Wolves Tribe tomorrow. The six of us will fight until we are all satisfied!”

Such practices were necessary for the six tribes because the young experts were likely to become the pillars of their respective tribes in the battles of the apocalypse in the decades to come, and they would fight side by side one day as the main force to resist the calamity-level beasts!

Therefore, it was very important that they knew each other’s capability clearly.

Although the six tribes were in a strange relationship, there was not much of a grudge among the young people who liked fighting more than anything else. They drank wine and ate delicious meat, while they exchanged their experience in training with each other. Very soon, everybody was familiar with each other. Li Yao remained silent most of the time and listened to other people talking about their achievements, but it was not in the least boring for him.

Before anybody realized it, an hour had passed. The colorful clouds in the sky were suddenly blown away by a weird wind, revealing the stars and the deep, dark firmament.

“The ceremony has now officially begun!”

Chapter 587: Banished!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

The people of Iron Plateau did not like unnecessary and overelaborate formalities. Besides, now that a hundred thousand qi-trainers had gathered in this place, it was impossible to arrange any complicated procedures. According to Wu Mayan, the so-called ceremony was merely watching a video from five thousand years ago together. After that, everything would be complete!

Shua! Shua! Shua!

Dozens of thick, bright pillars rose up from the periphery of the square and weaved into such an overwhelmingly vast light beam in the sky that one would be able to see it clearly from more than ten kilometers away.

Li Yao had seen such technology in the Heaven’s Origin Sector when he took part in the Limit Challenge Competition for the first time. However, the light beam here was larger and had a higher resolution. A magnificent world of giants seemed to have been overturned and placed right above the head of the residents of Furious Bears City.

Wu Mayan told Li Yao that the magical equipment to project the light beam came from the golden era before the apocalypse’s arrival. Only one video clip was stored inside.

Over the past five thousand years, the six tribes of Iron Plateau had spent countless invaluable resources to maintain the magical equipment. But as time went by, it still gradually wore out.

It was said that the six tribes would play the video clip on the ceremony of adulthood every year hundreds of years ago.

But as the magical equipment to project the light beam gradually degraded, they showed the video clip less frequently. Now, they only played it during the victory ceremony after the battles against the apocalypse.

The night sky was shaking like a surging ocean, while the lights were blinking like dragon scales. Soon, a black and red picture condensed in midair.

Black was a sky that was occupied by smoke, and red was a furiously burning city.

It had once been a super city ten times larger than Furious Bears City, but it was now debris in the sea of flames.

Illuminated by the red lotus of destruction were a bunch of men who seemed to have just been dug out from the earth. Their battle suits were mostly melted. They were soaked in blood, their hair burnt, suggesting that they had just gone through a bloody battle in the city rubble!

The ten thousand or so men were classified into six teams. A giant flag was flapping in front of each team with exactly the same pattern as the badge of the six tribes of Iron Plateau.

Six extraordinarily muscular men walked slowly to the camera carrying the flags. Displayed in the 3D light beam, they were like giants who were about to land on the earth from the sky.

The hundred thousand qi-trainers were silent. The millions of residents of Furious Bears City, including the old people who had watched the video before, all held their breath and observed quietly.

The six muscular men carried the flags of their respective sects to the remains before them that had collapsed.

Wu Mayan explained to Li Yao in a low voice that the city on fire had been the biggest city on Iron Plateau five thousand years ago, and it was where the coalition government of the six major sects had been located.

The remains that were about to collapse at any moment used to be the Great Congress of the coalition government. It had been the center of decision-making for the entire Flying Star Sector.

In the video clip, more than ten thousand Refinement Cultivators believing in the ideology of homers stared at the flag of their sects solemnly.

Six flags were fluttering against the blowing wind on the debris that had once been the center of the Flying Star Sector.

“I, Yang Kaicheng, secondary disciple of the Furious Bears Union, hereby announce in the name of the 4,524 disciples of the Furious Bears Union in the Refinement Stage…”

One of the six muscular men atop the debris, who had a red birthmark on his face, walked out and glanced over the disciples of the six sects with eyes as sharp as sabers. “…that Xiong Zhen, leader of the Furious Bears Union, Master Qing Feng, former leader and the manager of library of classics, Xia Houliang, Dong Jiaping, Xie Tianling, elders of the Furious Bears Union, as well as all the other members of the Furious Bears Union who escaped from Iron Plateau, are in violation of the creeds on which the Furious Bears Union was established. They are guilty of cowardice and disloyalty!

“The 4,524 Refinement Stage disciples of the Furious Bears Union have ruled unanimously that—

“Xiong Zhen, leader of the Furious Bears Tribe, shall be banished and never allowed to return!

“Master Qing Feng, former leader and the manager of library of classics, shall be banished and never allowed to return!

“The three elders and all the other members of the Furious Bears Union who defected shall be banished and never allowed to return!”

Below him, countless disciples of the Furious Bears Union were roaring thunderously.

Yang Kaicheng waved the flag hard and retreated.

A second muscular man, whose hair had been burnt, strode out, the giant flag flapping in the wind like a blossoming flower. “I, Xu Haoyan, Level 9 Deacon of the Burning Sun Alliance, declare on behalf of the 6,725 Refinement Stage disciples who are still striving on Iron Plateau…

“…that the members of the Burning Sun Alliance who absconded to space have defied the rules of this Alliance. Their crimes shall not be pardoned.

“The following sentences have been unanimously agreed upon.

“Fei Zhengyang, leader of the Burning Sun Alliance, shall be banished and wanted for the rest of his life. Once the criminal returns to Iron Plateau, all the disciples here shall work together to execute him!

“The five elders of the Burning Sun Alliance shall be banished and wanted for the rest of their lives. Once traces of the criminals are found on Iron Plateau, all the disciples here shall work together to slay them!

“All the members of the Burning Sun Alliance who have deserted to space shall be banished from the Alliance and never be admitted again!”

Xu Haoyan waved the Burning Sun flag hard, too. Countless men in crimson robes echoed in acknowledgement.

The representatives of the Refinement Stage disciples of the Giant Axe Hall, the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood, the Silver Moon Sect, and the Heaven Wolves Fortress followed and waved the flags of their sects, announcing the eviction of the leaders, elders, and members of such sects who had fled to space in the name of the low-level disciples!

Yang Kaicheng, a Cultivator of the Furious Bears Union who had made the declaration first, walked forward again and spoke.

“Right now, there is not a single Building Foundation Stage Cultivator on Iron Plateau. We Refinement Stage Cultivators, the small fries in the world of Cultivators before, are the only protectors of the planet now!

“But, so what?

“We are all human beings. The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators don’t have any more arms than we do. If anything, I think they might be short of balls!”

There was laughter in the crowd.

Veins bulged out on Yang Kaicheng’s neck. His face turned red as he yelled, “Those spineless Core Formation Stage Cultivators and Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators have all run away in fear! But the Refinement Stage Cultivators are still fighting on Iron Plateau! They are terrified by the apocalypse, but we are not. We will fight the apocalypse at the cost of anything for a thousand or even ten thousand years without giving in!

“Maybe we will fail. Maybe we will die. Maybe our civilization won’t last long in the desolate land, and we might end up being barbarians like those at the beginning of our civilization again.

“But, so what ?

“A hundred thousand years ago, the ancestors of human beings started from scratch and understood the mysteries of Cultivation by fighting against the harsh environment. They built a brilliant and prosperous civilization from the barbaric tribes.

“Even if we are really forced to go back to the era of tribes, we will simply walk through the path of evolution again!

“I announce today that the Furious Bears Union will be renamed as the Furious Bears Tribe. We will thrive and rebuild our civilization against the harsh environment like the primitive savages a hundred thousand years ago!”

“I announce today that the Burning Sun Alliance will be renamed as the Burning Sun Tribe!”

“I announce today that the Feathered Snakes Brotherhood will be renamed as the Feathered Snakes Tribe!”

The six sects that lingered on Iron Plateau started calling themselves tribes, a sign that they had completely separated from their compatriots in the space.

“What’s the difference between a Cultivator and a pest if they cannot protect their home and their people? This apocalypse has disgraced the name of ‘Cultivator’ and made it into a synonym of cowardice and defection!

“Let those rats flee desperately in space under the name of Cultivators! From today on, we will abandon the title of Cultivators. We are qi-trainers!”

“Qi-trainers!”

“Cultivators can get the hell off the planet as far away as they want. The qi-trainers will guard Iron Plateau for all eternity!

“Qi-trainers! Qi-trainers! Qi-trainers! Qi-trainers!”

In the beginning, only the ancient qi-trainers five thousand years ago were shouting in the giant light bean on the night sky.

But at some point, the qi-trainers on the ground had started echoing the name, too, with their face red and tears blinking in their eyes.

In the end, the entire Furious Bears City, regardless of their age and sexuality, and no matter whether they were qi-trainers or ordinary people, were chanting the same word.

Furious Bears City turned into an ocean of roars.

…

Late at night, the ceremony that had lasted more than half a day finally ended. Although there were still drunk and cheerful people on the street, Sha Yulan’s hospital was quite peaceful.

In the back of the hospital, beside a clear pond, Li Yao, Xiong Wuji, and Sha Yulan were strolling in the moonlight.

Crack!

Xiong Wuji sprayed spiritual gas out of his wound and controlled the artificial arm to pick up the pebbles on the road and toss them into the pond. He smiled in great satisfaction as the ripples spread out in the pond.

“Thank you very much, Li Yao.”

Xiong Wuji said sincerely, “You’ve helped me too much, both in the battle of apocalypse and with the artificial arm!”

Li Yao smiled and replied, “I said that I would show Chief Xiong what a real Cultivator looked like, but I was actually the one who was awed in the battlefield. Chief Xiong has shown me what a real qi-trainer looks like!

“The artificial arm is about nothing else. It was merely a gift that I made in admiration of your valiancy. You deserve to be the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau!

“Right now, the artificial arm is merely made of common metals. It’s probably enough for temporary use. When the trophies of the battle of the apocalypse are distributed, I will see if I can strengthen it with the metals retrieved from the corpses of the apocalyptic beasts. I cannot guarantee that 100% of your capability can be restored, but I’m confident a majority of it will come back!

“If I return to space one day, I may be able to produce an even stronger artificial arm for you!”

Li Yao was not lying. He had devised quite a few plans to make artificial arms. However, they all required precise facilities, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and special alloys that were non-existent on Iron Plateau. Therefore, he could only craft such an artificial arm with iron as the main material for now.

Xiong Wuji stopped by the pond. His face suddenly turned serious, as he promised solemnly, “Rest assured. You will return to space one day.”

The corner of Li Yao’s eyes jumped. He put on a series expression, too, as he asked, “I remember that Chief Xiong mentioned that you would talk about a big deal with me after the battle of the apocalypse. Has the time for making a deal come yet?”

Chapter 588: Reincarnation!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Xiong Wuji sat on a green rock next to the pond, his artificial hand knocking the rock softly. He gazed at the reflection of the moon in the pond before he opened his mouth a moment later. “The purpose of our meeting today is exactly the big deal. However, before we get into the details, I would like to know whether or not you have a new understanding of the apocalypse.

“Last time we talked about the apocalypse, you were merely listening to Sha Yulan’s narration. But now that you’ve experienced the full outbreak of an egg of apocalypse. I wonder, as a space resident, can you explain the mystery of the apocalypse from a new viewpoint? What is the so-called apocalypse exactly?”

Li Yao found a smaller rock near Xiong Wuji and seated himself on it. He kicked a pebble below his feet into the pond. After a ‘plop’ sound, the reflection of the moon broke into pieces of silver brightness, as if the pond were a breathing universe.

“I fell into a trance during the battle of the apocalypse. Several hours of high-intensity combat only lasted five minutes in my perception. I felt that I had turned into an entirely different species, and I was completely captivated.”

Li Yao was deep in thought. “After the battle of the apocalypse, I discovered that, although my level had no significant improvement, my skills in killing had made great progress, and the lust for killing had been lurking inside my body all the time.

“I have become better at fighting and slaughtering!

“It did not happen to me alone. Wu Mayan, who took part in the battle of apocalypse for the first time, had a similar experience. He made a major breakthrough in the battle and reached the 16th level of the Refinement Stage!

“We must note that he is not even fourteen years old yet!

“Such odd phenomena have been baffling me.

“I’ve been reflecting on the entire process of the outbreak of the egg of apocalypse and the significance of apocalypses at night sometimes. I pondered why it launched such complicated, inefficient attacks to Iron Plateau. The outbreaks of the eggs of apocalypse are not destructive events at all; they are merely… rehearsals!

“This morning, a very bold assumption that could explain the whole thing suddenly occurred to me!

“I would’ve discussed the matter with you even if you hadn’t summoned me.”

Xiong Wuji’s eyes suddenly rolled. He asked, “What’s the assumption?”

Taking a deep breath, Li Yao replied, “Many people consider apocalypses as doom or weapons that the more developed civilizations utilize to destroy mankind. But I don’t think that theory is valid. It cannot explain all the different types of apocalypse, either.

“There are many legends in the ancient Cultivation world about experts fighting against apocalypses. It is said that such experts would ascend to a holy land where they would meet many bizarre-looking deities after they successfully resisted the apocalypses.

“If the purpose of apocalypses is destruction, how can you explain the holy land and the deities?

“As for the assault against the Iron Plateau Space Zone, although the apocalypse almost wiped out Iron Plateau, the previous knowledge of the Titan Warriors was transported here, too!

“Therefore, my assumption is that the apocalypse was indeed launched by the Titan Warriors. But their purpose was not destruction, but the dissemination of their civilization in a certain way!”

“Oh?”

Xiong Wuji tried to hold back his surprise and observed, “That is very illogical. Why would a civilization leak their precious knowledge to someone else randomly? What benefits could the Titan Warriors get by offering their knowledge to us?”

Li Yao nodded and said, “The motivation of the Titan Warriors troubled me for a long time. It is definitely absurd under normal circumstances. A Nascent Soul Stage harassing an unfamiliar young man he met on the road and insisting to offer all his Cultivation to the stranger is bizarre; how could such a thing happen?

“But then, I come up with an explanation.

“What if the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator is about to die?

“What if the civilization of the Titan Warriors is on the brink of death or has already fallen?”

Li Yao’s eyes glittered as he mumbled, “Survival, continuity, and expansion are the instincts of every civilization. Generally speaking, the Titan Warriors will in no way pass their knowledge to somebody else easily. However, if their civilization has encountered a catastrophe and the experts among them find it impossible to avoid the disaster, then…

“Hide the tinder of their civilization in materials like meteorites and let it roam about the universe, searching for an appropriate planet and species to accept the gift.

“Isn’t it a plausible possibility?”

Sha Yulan couldn’t help but interject, “If it were a gift, why did they give it to us in such an extreme and cruel way?”

Li Yao smiled coldly. “If you have experienced the Titan Illusionary Land, you will know that the Titan Warriors are definitely not at all kind. To fight is their natural instinct, and their civilization is based on fighting, too!

“Therefore, their knowledge must be passed on in the most rough and brutal way, because they were trying to pick out the most coldblooded and ruthless warriors!”

Sha Yulan was curious. “But what if we failed to persist and were entirely destroyed?”

Li Yao answered, “If we were destroyed, we were destroyed. I imagine that we are not the only subject that the Titan Warriors’ knowledge was sent to. Chances are that many other ‘apocalypses’ are still floating in the sea of stars. They are tests for civilizations, and only the species that have passed the test are qualified to accept their knowledge!

“It can be compared to an evil wizard who kidnaps a lot of children and forces them to go through the harshest and bloodiest training. It doesn’t matter if most of the children are killed in the process as long as the strongest, meanest, and toughest one survives through everything and picks up his knowledge! That’s all he desires!

“The apocalypses that the ancient Cultivators experienced and the holy land and deities they witnessed must’ve been for similar reasons. They passed the test of certain civilizations and received parts of their heritage!”

Sha Yulan shuddered and murmured, “Horrible. If that’s the truth of apocalypses, it will be so horrible.”

“Horrible, but natural and reasonable.”

Li Yao squinted and continued, “For example, if the civilization of mankind is coming to an end one day and there’s no other choice expect to send out our heritage that stores the essence of our civilization, will we not put some tests on the heritage? Will we grant the knowledge to whatever species is lucky enough to gather it?”

Sha Yulan was somewhat confused. “I don’t understand.”

Li Yao explained, “Let’s say that there is a creature that looks like a hybrid of centipede and maggot. Do you want the tinder of human civilization to be passed on to them?”

Sha Yulan shivered and shook her head subconsciously.

Li Yao said, “That’s right. The creature that looks like a hybrid of centipede and maggot is still within the range of our perception after all. But I think that, given the vastness of the universe, it’s quite possible that there are countless other life forms that we cannot understand at all.

“Imagine that the heritage of mankind finds two species when it travels in the boundless universe. One of the species are basically rocks that have come to life and can’t be called a life form at all in our eyes, while the other species looks like monkeys.

“Which of the two sides will we offer our heritage to?

“We will doubtlessly choose the monkeys.

“Imagine again that there are two monkey species. One of them is mild and gentle and believes in justice, order, and ethics, while the other is brutal and aggressive to the point of parricide. Who will we wish our heritage to be passed to?

“Obviously, we will set up an extremely complicated examination system in our heritage to determine whether or not the life form and the moral principles of a certain species befit our tradition. If possible, we will choose the species that is closest to us to accept the tinder of the human civilization, won’t we?

“Everything that has happened to the Iron Plateau Space Zone was perhaps merely a judgement made by the civilization of the Titan Warriors.

“The Titan Warriors’ civilization is based on wars. Violence is their highest moral standard!”

Sha Yulan smiled bitterly. “If that is really the case, I really wish that we could’ve rejected the uncanny gift!”

Li Yao’s voice was somewhat gloomy. “Now that the Titan Warriors have found a species that is similar to themselves, how can they abandon it casually? I’m even beginning to think that the apocalypse is not just about passing on the knowledge. It is also meant to transform the humans on Iron Plateau without anybody realizing!

“The eggs of apocalypse that break out every ten years or so have mired the Iron Plateau natives. All the resources have been dedicated to war preparation. It’s impossible for the civilization to advance into a higher phase. In the end, we will become a fighting species that knows nothing about construction and everything about destruction.

“In every battle of the apocalypse, after each fighting will reverberation, the knowledge of the Titan Warriors will be further entrenched in our brains!

“If it goes on like this, things may still look the same in the hundred or thousand years to come. But what about tens of thousands of years?

“Isn’t it possible that the human civilization on Iron Plateau will forget everything, fight in the most primitive ways, and become the new Titan Warriors?

“I said ‘heritage’ just now. On second thought, the word is not accurate.

“The process is more like a ‘possession’. A civilization is trying to possess another civilization. The Titian Warriors are trying to reincarnate themselves in the bodies of the Iron Plateau natives!

“Think about the qi-trainers who dwelled in the Titan Illusionary Land for too long and lost their minds.

“From our perspective, they’ve become mentally deranged. But if we were to look at them from a different perspective, aren’t they the new generation of Titan Warriors?

“Let’s review the story I told in the beginning. A dying Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator found a young man on the street and demanded that the young man accept his heritage no matter what. Did the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator really want to pass on his knowledge, or was he planning to steal the young man’s body and be reborn in it through special methods?

“This is the truth of the apocalypse that I have come up with. It is not trying to destroy us but transforming us into ‘them’!”

Li Yao finished his speech and looked at the two of them peacefully.

Sha Yulan was dumbfounded, her body shuddering beyond her control.

Xiong Wuji, on the other hand, was completely emotionless. He seemed to have figured out the point long ago.

“Excellent.”

He talked slowly. “Your speculation is exactly the same as what I’ve been thinking lately. However, I didn’t see things as clearly as you because I’ve been part of this game all along. Now that you’ve mentioned it, everything is beginning to make more sense now!

“If our understanding of the apocalypse is similar, a lot of time can be saved in convincing each other in the deal that I’m about to propose.

“Li Yao, the deal I’m going to propose concerns not just you and me but also the fate of Iron Plateau!

“Let’s be honest here. I’m hoping to eliminate the chasm that has lasted five thousand years and re-establish communication between the Iron Plateau natives and the space residents!”

Chapter 589: Swallow or Be Swallowed

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Having just seen the impassioned recording of the qi-trainers banishing the spacers five thousand years ago, Li Yao was truly shocked by Xiong Wuji’s proposal. “What did you say?”

“Iron Plateau cannot hold on much longer.”

Xiong Wuji was entirely emotionless. Every muscle on his face was as tough as steel, as he explained, “For countless years, the Iron Plateau natives have been struggling, reproducing, and expanding. The east part of the continent below our feet is almost entirely occupied by us. Our society seems to be prosperous and blooming!

“But in fact, we’ve reached the limit of our expansion and the peak of our development. What awaits us is a path leading straight down to the hell!

“The most critical problem is the lack of resources.

“Every battle against the apocalypse consumes tremendous resources. To deal with the battle of the apocalypse that just happened, all the mother lodes near Furious Bears City have been emptied in order to produce enough war machines and crystal bombs, but the equipment was mostly wrecked in the battle.

“The trophies we collected from the apocalyptic beasts are far from enough to make up for the loss.

“The other five tribes are in a similar situation to the Furious Bears Tribe. All the existent mother lodes will be drained in the new few decades. If they want to excavate more resources, they will have to establish new mines and towns far from the main cities.

“However, building new mines and towns and protecting the supply line between such locations and the main city will consume a lot of resources itself. The scourge of the demon beasts on the way must be taken into account, too. One moment of carelessness may result in tremendous losses!

“The leaders of the six tribes are well aware of the situation. Judging from the trend of our development, the best we can do is to persist for several decades and resist another ten or so apocalypse outbreaks. Then, we will run out of resources and have no way to continue walking on the old path.

“Everybody has been considering how to solve the problem. They have proposed many insights such as improving our technology in excavation and tempering so that we can make use of the mother lodes deeper below the ground.

“But whatever method we employ, they all demand the investment of tremendous time and resources. The upgrade of technology cannot be completed within one day. Dozens of years, or even hundreds of years, and the hard work of several generations are mandatory for the process, not to mention that we might be walking on the wrong path and have to correct our mistakes every now and then.

“However, we have neither time nor resources.

“The outbreaks of the eggs of apocalypse every ten years or so have forced us to spend all our available resources to cope with it. The harassment of the demon beasts has been a major headache for us, too. We don’t have the resources to begin research that could potentially last a hundred years!

“Before, it always baffled me why the eggs of apocalypse broke out in such a weird pattern. But after I listened to your assumption, I’ve figured out everything now!

“The purpose of the outbreaks of the eggs of apocalypse is to act as ‘technology blockers’. They block all possibilities of advancement in our basic technology and coerced us to pour our resources into the war and improve ourselves in the pattern that they have set up!

“When such ‘improvement’ continues for thousands of years, everything about the civilization of mankind will be abandoned, and we will be adept at the mode of war of the Titan Warriors. Maybe, to quote you, ‘we’ will be transformed into ‘them’ at that time!”

While talking, Xiong Wuji’s body started shivering slightly.

Sha Yulan was behind him, with her hands placed on his shoulders. There was panic her eyes, too.

“I understand now. I understand everything now.”

Xiong Wuji mumbled to himself, “I was always curious about one thing when I was training in the Titan Illusionary Land. Titan Warriors were a species that preferred slaughtering to construction. Then why did they boast such finely-made weapons? Many of their weapons were made of special alloys based on technology that was far more advanced than ours. Such weapons were indicative of a high industrialization level!

“Now that I think about it, it might be related to the ‘eggs of apocalypse’!

“Eggs of apocalypse, as well as the insects we see in the Titan Illusionary Land, are possibly the tools of production for the Titan Warriors!

“They herd the insects just like we herd cows and sheep!

“They stabbed the eggs of apocalypse deep underground where the eggs would grow weird ‘roots’ to collect the resources in the mother lodes. Then, a lot of apocalyptic beasts would be born!

“Such apocalyptic beasts were the best metal manufacturers. They could eliminate the impurities inside the raw minerals by inexplicable biochemical reactions so that the purest metals could be retrieved. They could even combine several different kinds of metal and turn them into super alloys!

“Not to mention that the apocalyptic beasts were themselves Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that contained tremendous spiritual energy!

“The Titan Warriors have been herding such apocalyptic beasts. Then, when the time is right, they detonate the eggs of apocalypse, slay the apocalyptic beasts, and collect the super alloys and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures inside the bodies of the beasts to arm themselves!

“I assume that this is the paradigm of survival for the Titan Warriors’ civilization!

“Right now, the Titan Warriors are guiding us to give up mankind’s way of life and embark on their path!”

Taking a deep breath, Li Yao nodded quickly. “That’s very reasonable. Gathering the resources deep underground with eggs of apocalypse and slaying the apocalyptic beasts after they have purified and melted the resources will not only satisfy the Titan Warriors’ lust for killing but also provide them with profound resources!

“In such a way, the Titan Warriors can get a huge amount of super metal without any industry and craft indestructible weapons with the materials!

“It is indeed particularly suitable for the Titan Warriors!”

Xiong Wuji gnashed his teeth and said, “There’s more to it.

“In the Titan Illusionary Land, I turned into a Titan Warrior several times that was hiding inside giant creatures, which were thousands of meters long and looked like enormous beetles. I was jumping from one planet to another and going on new killing sprees!

“It’s possible that such enormous beetles are the ‘interstellar warships’ for the Titan Warriors. They swallow one planet after another like locusts in such vehicles!”

Li Yao added, “I’ve had similar experiences!”

Xiong Wuji said, “Maybe, in thousands of years, when all the Iron Plateau natives are transformed into new Titan Warriors, they will grasp the method to produce such ‘warship beetles’, too. They will collect the underground resources with the eggs of apocalypse and create countless warship beetles, and then—

“They will sabotage the entire Flying Star Sector!”

Li Yao subconsciously shivered. “Although it does not have any proof, your theory sounds rather plausible. The appetite of the Titan Warriors is definitely much bigger than a single planet!”

Xiong Wuji smiled bitterly and replied, “Do you understand now why I propose to get in touch with the space residents despite all the possible opposition?

“The heritage of the Titan Warriors’ civilization is like thick ink, while Iron Plateau is like a glass of water.

“If you pour the ink into the glass, all the water will be corrupted before long.

“However, the human civilization of the Flying Star Sector as a whole, which has expanded to every corner of this constellation, is like the pond in front of us!

“Thick as the ink may be, it will disappear once it is poured into the pond.

“In such a case, the Titan Warriors won’t be able to transform us. Instead, the civilization of mankind will swallow theirs completely!

“This is a war!

“Maybe the Titan Warriors’ civilization perished billions of years ago, and maybe it was millions of lightyears away from us!

“But still, this is a war between two civilizations, spread out over infinite time and space!

“If the Iron Plateau natives continue secluding ourselves and refuse to get in touch with the outside world, we will be transformed by the Titan Warriors sooner or later. Eventually, the entire Flying Star Sector and even other human civilizations beyond this constellation will be jeopardized!

“However, I believe that, as long as the wisdom of the Iron Plateau natives and the space residents is combined, we will definitely figure out a way to unravel the mysteries of the Titan Warriors’ civilization and find out the techniques of resource collection and reproduction of creatures behind the eggs of apocalypse!

“By then, the Titan Warriors’ civilization will be entirely swallowed by us. We will become even stronger than right now!”

Xiong Wuji’s eyes were glittering. Although he was steady on the giant green rock, Li Yao had the feeling that he was even mightier than when he had fought against the calamity-level beast!

A war between two civilizations across billions of years and hundreds of lightyears!

Li Yao was so shocked by the groundbreaking hypothesis that he found it hard to breathe.

He also understood better why Xiong Wuji, the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau and the strongest man on the planet, was proposing to get in touch with the space residents who had once been considered ‘traitors’.

Li Yao asked, “Chief Xiong, what are you planning to do?”

Xiong Wuji pondered for a moment. Then he smiled bitterly. “The chasm between Iron Plateau natives and space residents has become too deep and wide over the years. The icy wall cannot be thawed within one day.

“In fact, about two thousand years ago, the space residents sent representatives to Iron Plateau, hoping to restore communication between the two parties.

“But the resources on Iron Plateau were relatively abundant at that time. Also, our predecessors had made continuous breakthroughs on the path of qi-training from the 50th level to the 70th and even to the 90th.

“Everybody thought that we could make breakthroughs without any constraint. We would surpass the 100th level, the 500th level, and the 1000th level in no time.

“Therefore, the predecessors at that time discarded the space residents’ request on the spot and dismissed all the representatives.

“After that, the starships of the space residents were forced to land on Iron Plateau many times.

“You also know that most of the area on Iron Plateau is surging ocean and the Dark Continent, both of which are not under our control.

“Even within the area under the control of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, deserts and demon beasts dominate most of it. We can only ensure that the towns and the transportation lines are secure.

“Therefore, the passengers on those starships did not last long They were either swallowed by demon beasts or slain by the savages in the Dark Continent.

“Then rumors spread far and wide. The space residents began to consider Iron Plateau a forbidden area for Cultivators and us to be barbarians who feasted upon raw meat and blood!

“Such a stereotype cannot be changed shortly. I plan to send a delegation to space to get in touch with the space residents first so that they will see what the Iron Plateau natives today actually look like.

“If possible, we can make some deals by exchanging our unique techniques or resources!

“After we take the first step and our wariness is mostly relieved, we can start negotiating about interacting on a larger scale!

“Li Yao, if you are willing to, I want you to join the delegation as the intermediary between the Iron Plateau natives and the space residents!”

Chapter 590: If Not Me, Who?

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Li Yao was dazed. “Chief Xiong, I’m just a common Cultivator, born and raised in a remote area of the sea of stars, and what I was working in was a medium-size Exo Society instead of a renowned Cultivation sect. I do not know anyone in the leadership of Heavenly Saints City. Is it really appropriate for me to serve as the intermediary?”

Xiong Wuji smiled and replied, “Frankly speaking, it is exactly because of your background and your clean history with the ‘six major sects of Heavenly Saints City’ that I want you to take the job. Just think about it. How awkward will the relationship between the six tribes of Iron Plateau and the six sects of Heavenly Saints City be? Is it suitable for us to start our dialogue with them?”

Li Yao thought for a moment and immediately realized the reason.

In the ceremony just now, he had seen that the six tribes of Iron Plateau had ended on bad terms with the six sects that escaped to the space. They had banished the leaders and the elders in the name of the common disciples. For the more radical tribes, such as the Burning Sun Tribe, they had even put the previous leaders and elders on a wanted list!

It was indeed an awkward relationship between the six tribes of Iron Plateau and the six sects of Heavenly Saints City. To put it more seriously, it was about the competition of ‘rightfulness’.

Between the Furious Bears Tribe and the Furious Bears Union of Heavenly Saints City today, which was the rightful successor of the ‘Furious Bears Union’ five thousand years ago?

If the two parties started their communication with such issues as their focus, the negotiations would never be completed. Chances were that a war would break out immediately!

Xiong Wuji smiled bitterly. “Now you get it. Even if I can convince the chiefs and elders of the other five tribes to reach out to the space residents, we cannot go to Heavenly Saints City directly, nor will the six sects of Heavenly Saints City be very happy to see us!

“Therefore, I’m hoping to find an intermediary who is familiar with both the Iron Plateau natives and the space residents but is not closely related to the six sects of Heavenly Saints City. The person must be someone the Iron Plateau natives trust, too.

“Sha Yulan is a good candidate. However, she is just a doctor with barely any physical strength. I prefer a tough warrior who can ensure the mutual benefits of both parties in times of emergency with all methods possible!

“I’ve been considering the matter since you introduced yourself. Your performance in the temple of techniques and in the battle of the apocalypse further persuaded me. Li Yao, you are the perfect choice!”

Li Yao scratched his head. He suddenly felt tremendous pressure. He asked, “What should I do?”

Xiong Wuji replied, “We have an escape capsule under our control, the one in which Sha Yulan landed on Iron Plateau. However, it was seriously damaged during the forced landing. Over the past ten years, I’ve gathered a lot of resources, but there’s no telling whether or not it can be repaired.

“If you can fix the escape capsule, I want you to leave Iron Plateau and contact your companions.

“Didn’t you say that you were from a medium-size Exo Society? It couldn’t be better. We can purchase a few small starships through the Exo Society so that we can send a delegation into space and start making deals.

“During the deals, the two parties will get to know each other better. The scale of the deals will gradually expand, and the chasm between us will be eliminated sooner or later.”

Pondering for a moment, Li Yao asked, “What items of the Iron Plateau natives do you want to trade with the space residents?”

“There are too many.”

Xiong Wuji answered quickly, “First of all, the dead corpses of apocalyptic beasts will be the best goods. Their shells and sharp claws contain a lot of special alloys that even the space residents might not be able to produce!

“Secondly, the training skills of the qi-trainers. We have focused on the arts of manipulating spiritual gas for thousands of years. In the world of Cultivators, the vast majority are still Refinement Stage Cultivators, right? Such skills will definitely be very attractive to them!

“Thirdly, as you said before, our True Qi magical equipment is very suitable for low-level Refinement Stage Cultivators. As long as the price is good enough, it is definitely tradable, too.

“There are also the hearts of the Titan Warriors and the pieces of eggs of apocalypse. They all boast sophisticated techniques and are absolutely invaluable goods!”

Li Yao nodded. “Then what do you want in exchange?”

Xiong Wuji counted his fingers as he said, “Firstly and most importantly, the technology to excavate the resources deep underground. According to Sha Yulan, the mining technology of the space residents is so advanced that they can excavate mines on many asteroids. We are in desperate need of such technology!

“If such technology is too cutting-edge to be traded, alternatively, we are hoping to get some large-scale defensive weapons to help us resist the eggs of apocalypse outbreaks so that our resources can be saved to develop our own technology to excavate the deeply buried mother lodes.

“Also, all subjects of fundamental knowledge are goods that we desire!

“We are even planning, if possible, to send a batch of students to study in the schools of the space residents and learn their knowledge systematically.

“The bottom line is, after years of discussions with Sha Yulan, I find that there are a lot of complementary areas for the two parties. As long as we can put aside our prejudice, this is definitely going to be a win-win situation!

“You, as the intermediary, won’t suffer any loss, either. We are talking about a deal between one giant planet and countless space towns. I can’t begin to fathom how large the scale of the commodities will be. Both you and the Great Horn Exo Society will get enormous benefits in the process!”

Li Yao was greatly interested.

As a Cultivator, and an experienced refiner, Li Yao could easily become a millionaire with no concerns about his personal needs if he merely wanted to meet the demands of his own training.

However, his goal was to craft at least one piece of planetary-level magical equipment before he returned to the Heaven’s Origin Sector.

These two tasks both required astronomical resources, and there was no way that he could complete them alone!

If he could mend the relationship between the Iron Plateau natives and the space residents, and even let the two parties engage in large-scale business activities, he would definitely gain tremendous wealth and countless connections as the intermediary!

Considering the whole thing carefully for a moment, Li Yao replied, “I’ve seen the general inventory of trophies of the battle of apocalypse. Many special alloys are hard and tensile enough for me. With my current capability, I should be able to repair a super-small starship such as an escape capsule. At the very least, I can make it fly to the edge of the Iron Plateau Space Zone, which is in the coverage of the Spiritual Nexus. I will be able to send a message to the Great Horn Exo Society once I make it there!

“After that, I can absolutely get you one or two starships to bring the delegation of the Iron Plateau natives to the space.

“I do not know many people in Heavenly Saints City. However, the experienced Exos in the Great Horn Exo Society must know some.

“I have friends in the circle of refiners who might be of help, too.”

Li Yao was thinking about Huangpu Xiaoya.

As a noble family of refining that had lasted for more than a thousand years, the Huangpu family was definitely a friend to many Cultivators. That would be of great help to him.

“However—”

Li Yao said solemnly, “I want the thing to be done honestly and openly. We must inform the six sects of Heavenly Saints City in advance to avoid any misunderstanding. Right now, the entire Flying Star Sector is anxious, and the Immortal Cultivators of the Temple of Immortals are stirring chaos everywhere. The Cultivation sects couldn’t be more nervous at this point. If a conflict arises because of a misunderstanding, our clever endeavor will bring us no good.”

Xiong Wuji nodded. “Of course. The more sensitive an issue is, the more important it is to get things done openly. We have no evil intentions anyway. Every move in the plan can be set to the public!”

Li Yao hesitated for a moment and asked, “Do all six tribes of Iron Plateau agree to get in touch with the space residents?”

Xiong Wuji smiled and, waving his artificial arm, replied, “That was why I attacked and slayed the calamity-level beast so boldly.

“I’ve talked about the matter with the Silver Moon Tribe and the Heaven Wolves Tribe for quite a while. Right now, Furious Bears, Silver Moon, and Heaven Wolves have reach a consensus to get in touch with the space residents and trade for resources and technique that are necessary for our future development.

“As for the Burning Sun Tribe, the Feathered Snakes Tribe, and the Giant Axe Tribe, they, of course, won’t be so willing to cooperate.

“But according to the convention of Iron Plateau, the more contributions you make in a battle against the apocalypse, the louder your voice will be regarding the strategy of development for Iron Plateau in the next ten years!

“Three for the proposal and three against it, the vote seem evenly-matched. But now that one of my arms was wasted, I think they will not stop us from sending a delegation, however discontented they are!”

Li Yao was silent. He finally knew why Xiong Wuji was so brave and fearless in the battle of apocalypse now.

Watching the blinking water in the pond, Li Yao said gravely, “Chief Xiong, you must think carefully before you leap. What you are going to do is different from the battle of the apocalypse.

“In battle, you are a hero either you win or lose. Even if you are swallowed by an apocalyptic beast and die without a grave, you will still be a marvelous hero. In thousands of years to come, the Iron Plateau natives will still sing about you and your achievements.

“However, as for what you are going to do next, as long as you make the first step, many diehards will disparage you as traitors and cowards even if you succeed in the end. You will be loathed by everyone, and you will die a disgraceful death.

“Moreover, the process may not be as smooth as you imagine. After all, the two parties have been separated for five thousand years. Five thousand years of hatred and misunderstanding are going to be resolved by you alone. It is not going to be an easy task!

“Should you fail, the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, and the biggest hero in every Iron Plateau native’s heart, will be utterly discredited and become a rat on the street that everybody will spit on. You will be cursed for all eternity!”

Xiong Wuji smiled. He suddenly grasped Sha Yulan’s hand.

Sha Yulan was dazed for a moment, but she didn’t retreat her hand and simply held his hand tight.

Xiong Wuji heaved a long sigh; the air leaving his nose disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond. He then said slowly, “Something must be done, and some curses must be shouldered.

“Since everyone considers me the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, who is qualified to shoulder ‘curses for all eternity’ if not me?

“Rest assured. Whatever you think of, I’ve thought about since long ago. I’m ready to be condemned and doomed before I make the step!

“Tomorrow is the meeting of the six tribes. You will come with me, and I will propose the motion to communicate with the space residents formally.

“Even if my bones are shattered and my soul destroyed, I will not allow the Titan Warriors to swallow my homeland!”

Chapter 591: Oasis Plan!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

“Reaching out to the space residents? Chief Xiong, you are playing with fire!”

Yan Zhengdong, chief of the Burning Sun Tribe, smashed the giant desk with a bam sound, leaving a clear indent of his fist in the black wood that was as solid as iron. He rose up suddenly and glared at Xiong Wuji.

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe and that of the Feathered Snakes Tribe, as well as the elders of those tribes, all frowned.

Behind them were the young experts of the three tribes who had been invited to the meeting because of their excellent performance in the battle of the apocalypse.

The young warriors were not as courteous as those sitting at the front. Some of them, in fear of Xiong Wuji’s toughness, were merely whispering to each other in complaint. But the more irrational and disobedient guys were simply shouting.

“Xiong Wuji is mad!”

That was what happened in the meeting of the six tribes.

The motion that Xiong Wuji put forward to reach out to the space residents was lambasted by the Burning Sun Tribe as expected.

Even on Xiong Wuji’s side, not everyone in the Furious Bears Tribe, the Silver Moon Tribe, and the Heaven Wolves Tribe knew about the matter.

Some young qi-trainers gasped in shock, apparently hearing the bold idea for the first time. The crowd was humming, as if ten thousand mosquitoes were flying in the meeting room.

Li Yao made the greatest contribution in the battle of apocalypse only secondary to Xiong Wuji. Therefore, he was qualified to sit at the very front of the crowd. He could see one side of Xiong Wuji’s face clearly.

Xiong Wuji’s nerves seemed to be made of tempered steel. He had foreseen the strong objection and therefore was not in the least surprised.

Yan Zhengdong, chief of the Burning Sun Tribe, gnashed his teeth. “Chief Xiong, the so-called communication and negotiation of yours mean leaking the secrets of Iron Plateau to the space residents. No way! There’s no way that the Burning Sun Tribe will approve of such a motion!”

Xiong Wuji said solemnly, “History has proved that seclusion does not lead to good results! No techniques can be kept a secret forever. Only by communication, absorption, and evolution can our techniques become stronger and stronger!

“Of course, we won’t be offering our core techniques for nothing. We are going to trade them for the space residents’ techniques and resources! By then, if Chief Yan feels that a certain deal is inappropriate, you can always vote against it!”

Yan Zhengdong burst into laughter. “That’s an interesting thought. But who can guarantee that the space residents have no other evil purposes? Chances are that they’ve been coveting Iron Plateau for a long time!”

Xiong Wuji replied seriously, “All the more reason we should communicate with them. Only by talking with them can we know what is on the space residents’ mind and how advanced their Cultivation technology is! As the saying goes, you can never lose a battle if you know both yourself and your enemy. But right now, we don’t know the first thing about the space residents. If they are really malicious, we don’t even know how to resist them. That’s definitely not what we want!”

Yan Zhengdong’s face reddened, his veins bulging on his neck. He yelled, “I don’t know anything about the space residents, but I know everything about the Iron Plateau natives! If the space residents dare to mess around on Iron Plateau, we will make them die without a grave!”

Xiong Wuji raised his voice, too. “And exactly how are we going to make them die without a grave? We are all well aware of the state of the six tribes. All the resources have almost been drained to fight against the apocalyptic beasts!

“Just now, the Heaven Wolves Tribe and the Giant Axe Tribe were bickering for an entire hour over a mother lode of Purple Mist Stones with an annual production of only three thousand tons. Three thousand tons! That was among the tiniest mother lodes three hundred years ago. The elders of the two tribes in the past could’ve met and had a dinner with each other and figured the whole thing out. But right now, the fuss has to be addressed in the meeting of the six tribes! Why? Because we are running out of resources! The shallow resources on the top of the earth have almost been emptied!

“I know that many people object to communicating with space residents because you cannot let go of the betrayal five thousand years ago. But the dwindling resources are the most crucial problem at hand right now! If we don’t reach out to the space residents and we don’t purchase more resources, in a few decades, when everyone sitting here is old or dead, are you expecting the qi-trainers sitting behind you and me to kill the apocalyptic beasts with stone axes and wooden sticks?

“Chief Yan, if you are against my motion, why don’t you tell us what plans you have in mind to address the resource shortage?”

Yan Zhengdong chuckled and replied, “Of course, I have my plans!

“Now that all the leadership of six tribes are gathered today, I would like to take the opportunity to introduce the ‘Oasis Plan’!”

“Oasis Plan?”

Lively discussions dominated the room again. The qi-trainers on the Furious Bears Tribe’s side were looking at each other in bewilderment. There was confusion in everyone’s eyes.

The qi-trainers on the Burning Sun Tribe’s side, on the other hand, put on a mysterious smile, as if they were sure about their victory.

For the first time, surprise appeared on Xiong Wuji’s face. Obviously, he had never heard of the ‘Oasis Plan’ before.

Li Yao sat straight and narrowed his eyes.

Yan Zhengdong cleared his throat and continued, “It is well known that the territory of the six tribes of Iron Plateau is merely a small portion of all the land on our planet. Most of the land beyond our territory is known as the Dark Continent, which was the first to take a strike from the apocalypse!

“The Dark Continent is dominated by demon beasts and savages. The eggs of apocalypse break out at a much higher frequency than those in our territory do. However, the longevity of the apocalyptic beasts is usually very short. Several days, tops. That’s why we are never affected by them.

“Over the past thousand years, countless expedition teams have been sent to the Dark Continent, and none of them have reported any traces of intelligent creatures. In the recent few hundred years, due to lack of resources, we abandoned the exploration of the Dark Continent once and for all.

“However, one year ago, the Burning Sun Tribe received a signal from the Dark Continent!”

“What?!”

This time, even Xiong Wuji’s face changed color.

The qi-trainers of the three tribes sitting behind them were in a riot, too.

Watching everybody’s reaction coldly, Yan Zhengdong was very satisfied. “The Burning Sun Tribe organized a new exploration team and traced the origin of the signal deep into the Dark Continent. Finally, we found a brand-new tribe in a valley!”

Xiong Wuji was dumbfounded. The whispers behind him grew even louder. Many people stood up involuntarily in shock.

Li Yao, on the other hand, furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

Yan Zhengdong went on. “This particular tribe called themselves the ‘Oasis Tribe’. Their predecessors had struggled for thousands of years in the Dark Continent, a much harsher environment than ours. A lot of their heritage was lost. Their development level was hundreds of years behind ours. Except for a few techniques and magical equipment, they were basically a real tribe of primitives.

“However, we discovered mother lodes with abundant reserves in the territory of the Oasis Tribe. Since they had never been exploited on a large scale, the resources inside were enough for our usage for the next few hundred years until we pass the difficult times and develop our own excavation technology to retrieve the deeply buried resources!

“Also, according to our interaction with the local residents of the Oasis Tribe, they were all nomads with no fixed homes, and they have found minerals that were exposed to the air in dozens of areas where they had briefly stayed. It is very likely that more resources are waiting to be unearthed by us!

“All in all, the Oasis Tribe will be our best guide in the Dark Continent. With their direction, I’m certain that we will exploit all the resources on the Dark Continent.

“Therefore, the Burning Sun Tribe, together with the Giant Axe Tribe and the Feathered Snakes Tribe, has drafted the Oasis Plan!

“We are hoping to send large-scale teams to the Oasis Tribe and help it settle in the Dark Continent. Then, with the Oasis Tribe as the base, we will exploit the resources on the Dark Continent as best we can!

“This is our solution to our shortage of resources. What’s your opinion, Chief Xiong?”

Xiong Wuji was dazed for a long while, before he opened his mouth. “The Dark Continent is a complicated place. We must discuss the details more carefully before we make any decisions.”

Yan Zhengdong smiled. “That will be unnecessary. Before the battle of the apocalypse, the three tribes here formed the first expedition team and sent it to the Oasis Tribe.”

“What?!”

Xiong Wuji was outraged. He rose up suddenly and said solemnly, “Chief Yan, that was a big decision. Why did you not wait until the meeting of the six tribes so that everyone could discuss it together?”

Yan Zhengdong sneered. “Is there anybody here who doesn’t know that Chief Xiong has been spellbound by a girl from space and wants to reach out to the space residents?

“The secret agreements that the three tribes to the west made under the table were never left to the discretion of the three tribes in the east, were they?

“Right now, what’s done is done. The first expedition team has gone deep into the Dark Continent, and it’s impossible to recall them!”

The buzz in the room was louder than ever. The elders of the Furious Bears Tribe, the Silver Moon Tribe, and the Heaven Wolves Tribes were all frowning hard, deep in thought.

Xiong Wuji tried to hold back his anger and said, “I still feel that something is not right! Our ancestors searched the Dark Continent for thousands of years without finding any traces of civilization, and a tribe has shown up out of nowhere at this moment?”

“Chief Xiong—”

A coarse voice came from Yan Zhengdong’s back. “I was in full charge of the Oasis Plan, and I was in the first expedition team to witness the existence of the Oasis Tribe and the mother lodes around. They are 100% true. I swear with my life.”

“Master Yan!”

Xiong Wuji’s anger immediately dispersed. He bowed respectfully.

A hunched man slowly rose up from behind Yan Zhengdong. He was a white-haired old man as thin as skeleton. His legs had been cut off from the knees, and he was sitting on a special jet wheelchair that could spurt spiritual gas and push him around freely.

The old man seemed to enjoy a high prestige in all six tribes. His appearance silenced all the qi-trainers on the Furious Bears Tribe’s side.

Li Yao was greatly baffled. He slightly leaned back and asked Shi Meng, who was behind him, “Who is this old man?”

Shi Meng’s face was full of admiration, as he replied in a low voice, “He is Yan Xibei, Chief Yan Zhengdong’s elder brother, as well as the well-acknowledged best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau before Chief Xiong! He was also once an unparalleled expert in the 99th level of the Refinement stage!

“In a battle of the apocalypse thirty years ago, he resisted the collective attacks of dozens of dragon-level beasts and stalled a calamity-level beast for almost half a day entirely on his own. He almost reversed the outcome of the battle purely by himself! Therefore, although his capability plunged due to the heavy wounds in the battle, he is still revered in all six tribes!”

Li Yao frowned. “Is it possible that he is lying?”

 flycrane01

Hi guys. You are about to enter the most thrilling arc of the novel so far. I know it is very difficult to keep track of the Chinese names, but it will help you enjoy the story better if you have a basic impression of the Yan family who are all important characters in the plot to come. (Try to remember their initials, maybe. xD0

Yan Zhengdong (the father, and the chief of the Burning Sun Tribe)

Yan Xibei (the uncle, and the former best warrior of Iron Plateau)

Yan Chifeng (the elder brother, the expert in fighting, and the cool guy)

Yan Chihuo (the younger brother, and the short-tempered one)

Chapter 592: Weird Chief

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Shi Meng shook his head so hard that it could have fallen off his neck. “Absolutely not! Yan Xibei always bears the entirety of Iron Plateau in mind. There are no difference between tribes in his eyes. He treats the qi-trainers from every tribe the same. Whichever tribe has problems, he will always try his best to solve them!

“With his prestige and experience, he should’ve been the chief of the Burning Sun Tribe. However, he insisted that he would have to prioritize the interests of the Burning Sun Tribe if he became the chief and would not be able to treat every tribe equally anymore. Therefore, he handed the post over to his younger brother, Yan Zhengdong!

“After he was heavily wounded, Yan Xibei has been travelling among various tribes and helping everyone in need with the fortune of his family. He also kept nothing to himself when he taught the younger generation the arts of training!

“Our Chief Xiong was once stuck for more than half a year when he tried to surpass the 90th level of the Refinement Stage. It was not until he received Yan Xibei’s wholehearted enlightenment that he made a major breakthrough and went on to the 99th level!

“That’s why Chief Xiong called Yan Xibei ‘master’ just now. The two of them were indeed a student and a teacher!

“Do you think that such an upright hero would be a liar?”

Li Yao felt a headache coming on.

According to Shi Meng, Yan Xibei, the previous best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, was an impeccable saint.

Such a man was either too wise and brave or extremely cunning. It was definitely not going to be easy to deal with him!

Now that Yan Xibei had appeared, Xiong Wuji’s tone immediately softened. He conceded, “Master Yan, if you’ve investigated the matter in person, of course we believe that the Oasis Tribe is real! The people of the Oasis Tribe are our compatriots, and it’s only reasonable that we interact and communicate with each other. However, the Oasis Plan and the motion I proposed just now are not contradictory.

“No matter how many resources are stored in the Dark Continent, they will be used up one day. To excavate the resources will require huge expenses, too. In many years’ time, we will still have to get in touch with the space residents. If so, why don’t we prepare earlier?

“The Furious Bears Tribe does not object to the Oasis Plan. I believe that the Silver Moon Tribe and the Heaven Wolves Tribe are the same. However, it won’t be too much of a burden if we try to communicate with the Oasis Tribe and the space residents at the same time.”

“No! No! Absolutely impossible!”

Before Yan Xibei could reply, Yan Zhengdong, chief of the Burning Sun Tribe, had already jumped to his feet, his veins bulging on his forehead. He shouted desperately, “The Burning Sun Tribe insists that we keep our distance from the space residents no matter what!”

Xiong Wuji frowned deeply. He asked solemnly, “Chief Yan, your reaction is rather strange. I have agreed to join your Oasis Plan. Why are you unwilling to even send a delegation to investigate the development of the space residents?

“I wonder, what are the opinions of the Giant Axe Tribe and the Feathered Snakes Tribe?”

Yan Zhengdong sniffed heavily. He looked at the other two chiefs on his side in anger.

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe was wearing black clothes that looked like a military uniform with two crossed giant axes weaved in silver threads on his chest.

His eyes were narrow and long, like the coldly blinking edge of an axe. Pondering for a moment, he slowly replied, “If the Furious Bears Tribe is willing to invest enough resources in the Oasis Plan, then the Giant Axe Tribe agrees to get in touch with the space residents.”

“What?!” Yan Zhengdong slapped the desk in fury. “Gu Lei, what’s the meaning of this?”

Gu Lei, chief of the Giant Axe Tribe, said coldly, “We of the Giant Axe Tribe have always considered ourselves to be a real army. We are as wary of the space residents as the Burning Sun Tribe is. However, I totally agree with what Chief Xiong said just now. You can never lose a battle when you know both yourself and your enemy well!

“As soldiers, nobody understands the importance of tactical intelligence better than us. We’ve been separated from the space residents for five thousand years. There is so much hatred between us, and yet we know barely anything about them. What a terrible situation we are in!

“Over the past thousand years, some starships of the space residents have been forced to land on Iron Plateau, and we’ve examined a lot of debris.

“Everybody here knows that the starships of the space residents are getting more advanced and powerful. God knows what phase they are in right now!

“Nothing is more horrifying than an enemy lurking in the shadows that we know nothing about!

“Therefore, the Giant Axe Tribe agrees to reach out to the space residents. If they really are as friendly as Chief Xiong hopes they will be and would like to communicate with us peacefully, it will be all good. If they are hostile, at least we will get to know more details about them and make precautions accordingly!”

Yan Zhengdong was rendered speechless. His face turned red, but he failed to give a response for a long time. At last, he added, “Gu Lei, have you forgotten the vow our ancestors made five thousand years ago?”

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe answered calmly, “Of course we haven’t. Iron Plateau will always be our home. Every qi-trainer of the Giant Axe Tribe will protect our home until the last bit of our blood is shed! But it does not mean that we should be confined to Iron Plateau forever!

“Our ancestors never dictated that we never step off Iron Plateau, did they?”

“Chief Yan, I think that you are overreacting, too.”

The chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe was an old lady with white hair and a wrinkled face, and yet she was wearing more than ten blossoming flowers in her hair, which made her look somewhat hilarious. She tapped the table and remarked, “Just think about it. The Iron Plateau natives are the rightful successors of the Flying Star Sector. We have our fair share of the resources in space, too! Why are the rats in space monopolizing all of them? Are we not qualified to go to space?

“We are not abandoning Iron Plateau anyway, nor are we attracting the space residents to our planet. We are merely going to investigate the space residents. If you are not satisfied, you can consider the communication to be a reconnaissance mission!

“I think the task is definitely worth a try.

“Moreover—”

Glancing at Xiong Wuji, the chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe was smiling. “Chief Yan, you don’t think that Chief Xiong will abandon the idea just because you don’t agree, do you? Chances are that the three tribes of the west will send their own delegation into space without informing us first. Will you know what they are trading with the space residents?

“Do you want to start a civil war between the six tribes because of that?

“It’s better to unify and set up rules first than let them act on their own. I believe that Chief Xiong will definitely set an example to abide by the rules for everyone else, won’t he?”

Xiong Wuji let out a long breath in relief and nodded quickly. “Of course. This is a big deal that naturally requires the six tribes to sit down and settle the details to ensure that everything is within our expectations. This is just a preliminary proposal. Everybody’s input is very valuable.”

“No. I’m still against it. Strongly against it!”

Yan Zhengdong was even more infuriated, like a furiously burning torch. His veins were about to explode out of his temples, while he glared at Xiong Wuji and gnashed his teeth. “This whole thing is unnegotiable. You cannot do it!”

Now, even the chief of the Giant Axe Tribe and that of the Feathered Snakes Tribe were puzzled.

Gu Lei, chief of the Giant Axe Tribe, was a good friend of Yan Zhengdong. He asked in confusion, “Zhengdong, what are the reasons of your objection? Why don’t you tell us your insights on the advantages and disadvantages of the motion?”

Gazing at Xiong Wuji in silence for a long time, Yan Zhengdong finally said, “I suggest the meeting be adjourned today. We will further discuss the issue tomorrow!”

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe and that of the Feathered Snakes Tribe were both dazed for a moment. They looked at each other and were smart enough to realize that Yan Zhengdong must have something that he did not want to share. They could only nod their heads and postpone the meeting for now.

The first day of the meeting of the six tribes came to a sudden end just like that.

Xiong Wuji’s face turned extremely weird, as if Yan Zhengdong’s eyes had pierced through his soul. He was somewhat lost long after the meeting was ended.

Even Li Yao seemed to have contracted a special virus. His eyes turned deep and dark, and nobody noticed when he left. He returned to his ward directly after the meeting and meditated on his bed. It was not until ten o’clock in the evening that he went to Xiong Wuji’s ward.

The light was off. Xiong Wuji was sitting in the darkness all by himself, like a rotten wooden sculpture.

He seemed to be much thinner than half a day ago. The aura of the best warrior on Iron Plateau had vanished from him.

“The discovery of the Oasis Tribe is quite odd!”

Li Yao went to the topic straightforwardly. “Your ancestors searched the Dark Continent for thousands of years without finding any civilizations. It is quite uncanny that a tribe popped out of nowhere at such a moment!”

Xiong Wuji was suddenly woken up from his trance. He calmed himself down and said, “It is indeed quite unbelievable that the Oasis Tribe was found. However, Master Yan Xibei is the most respected man on Iron Plateau and I believe in him. He would never do anything that is harmful for the interest of Iron Plateau!”

Li Yao suddenly changed the topic. “Let’s put the issue aside for a moment. I want to discuss my arrival on Iron Plateau with you.

“Do you still remember that I said I was forced to escape to Iron Plateau because of the hunting of an expert space pirate?”

Xiong Wuji was dazed for a moment. He did not understand why Li Yao had brought the subject up. “I do. What now?”

Li Yao narrowed his eyes, his voice dissecting the situation layer by layer like the sharpest scalpel. “Do you not feel that this is too much a coincidence? It is almost like a novel.

“Isn’t that what happens in all novels? When the protagonist meets a bad man that is too strong for himself, he can always run away with the favorable circumstances around him and then seek revenge after he trains himself hard!

“Why did there happen to be a planetary ring right behind myself when I was faced with a Core Formation Stage expert, and why was there Iron Plateau, known as the forbidden area for Cultivators, right inside the planetary ring that even the Core Formation Stage expert dare not trespass?

“Was it really because I was very lucky?”

Xiong Wuji frowned. “There are always coincidences.”

Li Yao nodded. “That’s what I thought; there are always coincidences.

“However, let’s say that it was a coincidence that I luckily escaped to Iron Plateau.

“And it is another coincidence that a tribe living in the Dark Continent which nobody had ever found for thousands of years popped up exactly at this moment.

“I can accept one coincidence, but the cooccurrence of two coincidences really makes me feel creepy now.”

Chapter 593: Everybody’s Got a Secret

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Xiong Wuji lowered his head and pondered for a moment. “You said earlier that the Great Horn Exo Society had to flee to the Iron Plateau Space Zone trying to escape from the hunting of Storm Prison, who assaulted them suddenly.

“Never did they know that it was exactly what Storm Prison had planned.

“Storm Prison had also hoped to make the best use of the complicated terrain of the Iron Plateau Space Zone to run away after the Great Horn Exo Society was destroyed!

“Therefore, they set up traps in the periphery of the Iron Plateau Space Zone and waited for the Great Horn Exo Society to come close. Then, the Great Horn Exo Society fell right into the traps as expected and was almost exterminated.”

The muscles on Li Yao’s face was shivering nonstop, as he mumbled to himself, “That is what I thought previously.

“I thought that Fengyu Zhong drove the Great Horn Exo Society to the Iron Plateau Space Zone before he launched the fatal strike because he wanted to make use of the terrain in this area, and that my abrupt appearance had disrupted all the schemes of the Temple of Immortals.

“I’ve never doubted that until this afternoon!

“But after I heard the discovery of the Oasis Tribe…”

Li Yao took out a piece of paper from his pocket.

The paper was meant for him to draw structural designs on. But now, he drew a simple map of the Flying Star Sector in several seconds.

“Look, this is the Old Dragon Space Zone where Storm Prison ambushed the Great Horn Exo Society in the beginning. There are two forsaken space zones and one world fragment between this particular space zone and the Iron Plateau Space Zone. The journey is too long, and there are bound to be a lot of variables!”

Li Yao pointed at the map of universe and explained, “In the end, it was exactly because Fengyu Zhong wasted too much time on the road that he failed to eliminate the Great Horn Exo Society!”

Xiong Wuji raised his eyebrow. “What’s the problem?”

Li Yao narrowed his eyes, with coldness beaming out. He replied, “The problem is, I know Fengyu Zhong very well, and this is definitely not his hunting style!

“He is a viper that has been nesting on Spider Den for decades. His hunting style is simplicity and sharpness. He always tries to shorten the time of his hunting and reduce the unnecessary procedures!

“For him, the simpler a hunting plan is, the better. One more procedure means one more thing that can possibly go wrong!

“Therefore, after the meeting today, I returned to my room and tried to walk in Fengyu Zhong’s shoes.

“I discovered that, according to his style, he could definitely have launched the fatal strike in the Old Dragon Space Zone and blown the horn of the final battle there!

“It is true that the environment of the Old Dragon Space Zone was not favorable for his escape, but such a plan would’ve bought him at least one extra day for his getaway!

“One day was more than enough for him to flee!

“Why did he give up the easiest choice and change his habit by going through so much trouble to drive the Great Horn Exo Society to the Iron Plateau Space Zone?

“An old, cunning, experienced space pirate would never have done such a redundant thing.

“I can only speculate that it was not Fengyu Zhong’s will, but the hint or command from someone above him, or to be more exact, someone from the Temple of Immortals.

“For some reason, the Temple of Immortals needed the final battle to break out in the Iron Plateau Space Zone!”

Xiong Wuji gasped. “That’s just your speculation.”

Li Yao sighed. “I hope it’s just my speculation and I am being paranoid, too. But sadly, my instincts are hardly ever wrong. When I foresee danger, danger is very likely to occur.

“I thought that the game was concluded in the periphery of the Iron Plateau Space Zone and I was the winner.

“But now I realize that the game only began at that moment, and I don’t even know who my opponent is or what he wants.

“In the hands of my real opponent, Fengyu Zhong is merely a chess piece on a board and a chip in a casino even though he is in the Core Formation Stage!”

Li Yao finished his speech, only to find that Xiong Wuji was not focused on him at all. The chief’s eyes were hollow. There was no telling what was on his mind.

“Chief Xiong?”

Li Yao called him gently. Xiong Wuji was suddenly back to himself from the trance, and his eyes were focused again.

Li Yao asked, “Chief Xiong, is there something bothering you?”

Xiong Wuji coughed and said, “I’m alright. Just a bit tired.”

“Please do take a good rest, Chief Xiong. I will calculate everything carefully when I return. Logically, the Temple of Immortals did not know of my existence in the beginning. So, I was definitely not the target of the scheme. I must rule out all the interfering factors resulting from my appearance and deduct the entire event from the starting point with the hypothesis that I don’t exist. I’ll see whether or not I can find why our enemy had to set the Iron Plateau Space Zone as the battlefield!

“I believe that, as long as I find their motivation, we will know what they are really up to!”

Li Yao rose up and bid farewell to Xiong Wuji, but Xiong Wuji seemed to be hesitating about something. It was not until Li Yao reached the door that he suddenly called out.

“Li Yao!”

Li Yao turned around, confused. He felt that Xiong Wuji was getting weirder and weirder.

Xiong Wuji clenched his fists so hard that his artificial arm was emitting cracking noises. He gnashed his teeth. “Believe me. Whatever I did, I did for Iron Plateau! You must believe me!”

Li Yao frowned “What do you mean, Chief Xiong?”

Xiong Wuji, however, seemed to regret saying what he’d said. He waved his hands lethargically and said, “Nothing. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Then, he added, “If anything goes wrong in the future, please take care of Sha Yulan and Wu Mayan for me. Send them back to the space if possible.”

Li Yao was dazed. He was planning to pursue further, but he found that Xiong Wuji had turned into a frozen statue again.

Li Yao returned to his own room in bafflement. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. Pondering for a moment, he released Neltharion in stealth mode and hid it in the trunk of a giant tree in the yard.

It could see the door of Xiong Wuji’s ward clearly from that angle.

Xiong Wuji was still in low spirits because of the heavy wounds, and therefore did not notice anything wrong.

Li Yao had no idea why he was spying on a friend, but when he looked at Xiong Wuji at the end of their conversation, he had felt that the chief’s eyes were extremely strange, and some deeply buried secrets seemed to be hidden in them.

After the deployment, Li Yao sat cross-legged and gradually increased his brain cell activity, while he ruminated on every detail from the moment he’d boarded the carrier of the Temple of Immortals.

Such deduction was even more exhausting than drafting structural designs for magical equipment. Li Yao felt dizzy and drowsy by the time he reached the 7th day of the event.

Suddenly, a black shadow blinked in his vision.

A man in a black cloak had snuck into the yard behind the hospital quietly.

Something is indeed wrong!

Li Yao was refreshed. He pretended that he was breathing in a fixed frequency. Also, he had turned off the lights when he started his meditation. Therefore, anyone passing by would only think that he was sound asleep.

White hair could vaguely be seen below the cloak. Under the moonlight, Li Yao could see a face as red and healthy as that of a baby.

It was Yan Zhengdong, chief of the Burning Sun Tribe!

What’s he doing here? Li Yao was greatly confused.

Zigzagging forward secretly, Yan Zhengdong went to Xiong Wuji’s ward and pushed open the door.

The door was not locked. Xiong Wuji seemed to have known that a visitor was coming.

After he went inside, the door was locked after a click.

Neltharion could not capture the sound inside the room. Li Yao was so curious that he was scratching his head hard. He felt that his brain was about to explode with interest.

The door of the room was not opened again until half an hour later, when Yan Zhengdong stormed out of the room in fury.

His cloak was awry, yet he was too anxious to sort it out. He was somewhat pissed and yelled at the room in a low voice, “Yes, I don’t believe in you! Whoever brings up the motion is fine, except for you! Absolutely not you!”

Xiong Wuji’s voice came over from the room intermittently. He was talking about something like ‘swear to god’ and ‘punished by the heavens if not’, but it was impossible to distinguish exactly what he was saying.

Yan Zhengdong, on the other hand, snorted and said, “Cut the crap. The qi-trainers believe not in the deities or the heavens but our weapons and fists. Your vows do not mean a damn thing!

“Anyways, in the interests of the six tribes, I will not reveal who you are, but you’d better stop concocting your evil plans. Just be the chief of the Furious Bears Tribe and behave!

“If you’ve made up your mind to talk to the space residents, you will have to wait until I die! I will not allow you to do that as long as I’m alive!”

Finishing his words, Yan Zhengdong waved his sleeve and strode away.

Li Yao felt his heart pulsating with curiosity. He wondered whether or not to let Neltharion follow, but he eventually gave up the idea after some hesitation.

The Burning Sun Tribe was stationed in an independent camp at the corner of Furious Bears City together with the Feathered Snakes Tribe and the Giant Axe Tribe. There were many experts inside the camps. If somebody discovered traces of the magical equipment, it would be hard for him to explain.

After Xiong Wuji shut the door of the room again, Li Yao had Neltharion return and fell into deep thought again.

This time, he was pondering the relationship between Xiong Wuji and Yan Zhengdong.

Xiong Wuji had a big secret, and Yan Zhengdong was not as unreasonable as he appeared to be in the meeting in the afternoon. He seemed to know Xiong Wuji’s secret and had good reasons for his objection.

What a mess!

Li Yao pondered for a whole night, yet he failed to figure anything out. When dawn came, he finally couldn’t help it any longer and took a nap on the bed.

But shortly after he fell asleep, he was woken up by hasty horns.

There were also vague drumming noises in the distance.

Battle drumming.

Incoming enemy?

Li Yao was greatly surprised because he could tell that it was the war horn of the highest level in Furious Bears City. Generally speaking, it was only blown when the apocalyptic beasts were attacking the city in full strength!

What’s going on?

Li Yao hurried to put on the Sky Scorpion Armor that he had just repaired and rushed out of the hospital.

The streets were in chaos. There was not the slightest ceremonial ambience left. Everybody was hustling and bustling like headless flies. The qi-trainers were shouting, yelling, and running toward the east of the city.

“Uncle Sand Scorpion! Uncle Sand Scorpion!”

Wu Mayan appeared out of nowhere. One of his shoes had been knocked off in the crowd. He snatched Li Yao’s arm, and his body curled like a shrimp because he was out of breath.

“What happened?” asked Li Yao solemnly.

“The thousands of qi-trainers of the Burning Sun Tribe are rioting! War! They are declaring war against us!” Wu Mayan shrieked.

That’s impossible!

Li Yao was greatly shocked. He asked in disbelief, “For what?”

Although there were conflicts among the six tribes of Iron Plateau, they were not severe enough for a war. Opinions had differed in the meeting yesterday, and there had been quarrels, but all the chiefs were smart and rational people. The chiefs of the Giant Axe Tribe and the Feathered Snakes Tribe, for example, had both agreed to get in touch with the space residents despite their hatred against the deserters.

Even when the secret conversation between Yan Zhengdong and Xiong Wuji ended on bad terms last night, Yan Zhengdong had mentioned that he would keep the interests of the six tribes in mind.

How come a war was breaking out?

“Yan Zhengdong, chief of the Burning Sun Tribe, has been killed!”

Wu Mayan was almost crying. He panicked and exclaimed, “The Burning Sun Tribe seems to have proof that Father Xiong killed him to keep his mouth shut. They are trying to avenge their chief!”

Chapter 594: Shocking News!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

When Li Yao and Wu Mayan reached the camps of the Burning Sun Tribe and the other two tribes, the sky in the east of the city seemed to be burning.

The thousands of qi-trainers of the Burning Sun Tribe were all fully armed. Many of them still had bandages on their heads, and yet they’d all unsheathed their weapons and summoned their spiritual gas, suggesting that they were ready for a total war.

Yan Xibei was floating here and there on his True Qi wheelchair, screaming and shouting, trying to soothe the simmering atmosphere.

The Giant Axe Tribe and the Feathered Snakes Tribe received the news of Yan Zhengdong’s murder, too. They were greatly surprised, and, not knowing what the situation was, prepared themselves for battle, too.

The Giant Axe Tribe turned into a black swamp again. The brightly shining axes formed a forest of steel so dense that one would be chilled to the bones just looking at them.

The Feathered Snakes Tribe, in the meantime, had become an ocean of animals. The animals were apparently much more disobedient than people. All the shrieks and squeaks made the area even messier than before.

The qi-trainers of Furious Bears City were crowding to the area, but they did not dare take any action now that the situation was unclear.

The Heaven Wolves Tribe and the Silver Moon Tribe, although having been in a good relationship with the Furious Bears Tribe, found themselves unable to pick a stance when they heard such a horrible accident that the chief of the Burning Sun Tribe had been murdered.

“Xiong Wuji, you killed my father. The Burning Sun Tribe will not stop fighting until all of us die! War! Total war!” Yan Chihuo, Yan Zhengdong’s youngest son, was standing on a heavy tank and screaming in outrage, with a white cloth tied to his forehead.

Yan Chifeng, the eldest son of Yan Zhengdong and the best expert in the younger generation of the Burning Sun Tribe, was wearing a white cloth on his head, too. However, he remained silent in the heavy tank.

Inside the heavy tank was a long desk covered by a white sheet in the shape of a human. Brown stains of blood were left on the white sheet.

Xiong Wuji was standing on another heavy tank. He bellowed first to silence everybody, before he opened his mouth again solemnly. “Brother Yan Chihuo, we will definitely investigate your father’s misfortune in Furious Bears City until the truth is found out. But I don’t have either the motivation or the capability to kill Chief Yan. Please don’t act recklessly and do things that satisfy your foe and hurt your friends!”

“Xiong Wuji, stop being pretentious here. Everybody thought that you were a big hero, the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau!

“Screw you!

“I didn’t know you were so cunning and sordid until today!”

Tears in his eyes, Yan Chihuo pointed at Xiong Wuji and shouted, “You and my father had a big fight in the meeting yesterday. Late last night, my father went to visit you to discuss things, only to come back furious! My father was up all night. He’d been sighing and saying that he knew a big secret about you. The six tribes would be divided if the secret was told, but he would feel guilty if he kept it a secret!

“As it turned out, my father died miserably on the bed this morning. Who else could’ve done this except you? Who else?

“Today, the chiefs and elders of all the tribes are here. Please reveal the true face of the ambitious schemer for justice!”

Gu Lei, chief of the Giant Axe Tribe, leapt to the heavy tank Yan Chihuo was in. He apologized to Yan Chifeng first and asked the son of the deceased to lift the white sheet so that he could observe Yan Zhengdong’s fatal wound. He then raised his voice and shouted, “Yan Chihuo, it is truly an unprecedented event in the thousands of years of history of Iron Plateau for a chief to die abruptly during the meeting of six tribes!

“However, there are still many points about the matter that call for our attention. We must not jump to any conclusions.

“The conflict between Chief Yan and Chief Xiong took place in front of many people, which is undeniable. The two of them discussing secretly late at night and ending on bad terms might also be true. You said that Chief Yan had to his knowledge Chief Xiong’s top secret. I believe you, too!

“However, are such reasons enough for Chief Xiong to act toughly in his own territory and kill the confidant? It does not seem very plausible.”

The chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe, in the meantime, had stepped on the heavy tank, too, with two pythons as stairs. She also checked the cause of Yan Zhengdong’s death.

Then she shrieked, “The Feathered Snakes Tribe has always been a good friend to the Burning Sun Tribe. The Furious Bears Tribe is definitely responsible for the neglection of safety measures, which caused Chief Yan to be assassinated in Furious Bears City.

“However, if Chief Xiong really wanted to keep Chief Yan’s mouth forever shut, he wouldn’t have chosen such crude methods, would he?

“Everybody saw how intense his relationship with Chief Yan was yesterday. If Chief Yan was killed, he would definitely be at the top of the list of suspects!

“If the investigation proves Chief Xiong to be the murderer, the Feathered Snakes Tribe will surely stand with the Burning Sun Tribe and seek justice for you even at the cost of total war!

“However, groundless speculation does not seem enough for us to start fighting each other!

“Try to calm down for a moment. We’ll look into the case carefully. The true murderer, whoever they are, must not be let go of!”

“Indeed!”

Xiong Wuji declared, “It’s true that Chief Yan and I didn’t see eye to eye. But why on earth would I kill him just like that in my main city? Besides, I was heavily wounded in the battle of apocalypse and just put on an artificial arm. How was I capable of killing Chief Yan without alarming anyone else?”

Yan Chihuo gnashed his teeth. “Because of my father’s old age and the wounds he suffered when he was young, he was far less vigorous than he appeared to be. However, to preserve his face, he always bulged his flesh by expanding his spiritual gas when he was out to pretend that he was still healthy. In fact, his capability plummeted long ago. Also, he suffered internal injuries in the battle of the apocalypse!

“Even if you don’t act in person, there are at least a handful of experts in the Furious Bears Tribe who can kill my father quietly in an ambush!

“As for the reason you killed my father with such crude methods, that’s because the secret my father knew about you is too shocking, and if it was revealed, you would be discredited and doomed forever. Therefore, you had to kill him immediately, however risky it was!”

Xiong Wuji bellowed, “He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find a stick!”

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe and the chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe frowned at the same time. “Yan Chihuo, do you have any solid proof?”

Yan Chihuo’s eyes glanced over the faces of the two chiefs like magma. He suddenly burst into strange laughter that was even nastier than wailing. He roared to the sky, “Xiong Wuji, you are truly a distinguished schemer, considering how you’ve been fooling everyone! It’s too bad that the wheels of justice grind slowly but surely. A sleazy man such as yourself won’t get your way for long! Proof? Alright. Let me ask you. Why on earth have you been insisting on getting in touch with the space residents?”

Xiong Wuji replied immediately, “For the future of Iron Plateau, of course!”

Yan Chihuo’s face had been fully twisted, as he yelled, “More like you’ve been spellbound by the witch Sha Yulan!”

Everybody was whispering to each other when they heard Yan Chihuo’s words.

The qi-trainers of the Furious Bears Tribe, having been berated by Yan Chihuo for a long time, were more than angry. They all took the chance to curse back.

Even the chiefs of the Giant Axe Tribe and the Feathered Snakes Tribe were shaking their heads slightly.

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe said in a low voice, “Ah Huo, that’s entirely irrelevant. The thing about Sha Yulan and Wu Mayan has been settled in the arena. It’s not a tradition of the Iron Plateau natives to go back on our words.”

“Yes!”

In the battle formation of the Giant Axe Tribe, a tower-like muscular man more than 2.5 meters tall suddenly walked out of the crowd. He waved his giant axes and shouted at Yan Chihuo, “That year, the three tribes gathered in Furious Bears City and made a deal with Chief Xiong to settle the matter with three battles. If he won them all, we would seek no more trouble and consider the woman and her child ordinary members of the Furious Bears Tribe!

“As it turned out, Chief Xiong defeated me, ‘Mountain-cutting Hatchet’, in front of everyone in the arena!

“Now, you are calling that woman a witch again. Aren’t you slapping my face?”

The qi-trainers valued their credits more than their life. Since they had promised to not harass Sha Yulan anymore if they were defeated in the arena, they would not say anything against her again in public however discontented they were inside.

Yan Chihuo’s accusation of ‘witch’, on the other hand, had violated the taboo. Even many people in the Giant Axe Tribe and the Feathered Snakes Tribe were booing him.

“Brother Yan Chihuo!”

Xiong Wuji held his head high and announced furiously, “Previously, the Burning Sun Tribe, the Feathered Snakes Tribe, and the Giant Axe Tribe gathered in Furious Bears City and demanded Sha Yulan and her child be banished from Furious Bears City. We swore in the name of the ancestors of the six tribes that we would sort everything through three battles. If I won all of them, everybody would stop nitpicking the identity of Sha Yulan and her child; if I failed any of the three battles, they would be banished to the desert to live on their own!

“The result was that I was fortunate enough to win all the three battles. The two of them had been regarded as ordinary members of the Furious Bears Tribe ever since.

“Now, you are calling Sha Yulan a witch. Do you want to overrule the result of the battles?

“As for your indictment that I was spellbound by Sha Yulan…

“Hahahaha. What’s wrong with that?

“Now that so many qi-trainers of the six tribes are gathered here, I would like to announce to everybody that…

“It’s true that Sha Yulan and I are in love with each other. With everything coming to this far, I will take her as my wife for the rest of my life!”

His declaration almost blew more than half of Furious Bears City into the sky like an enormous crystal bomb!

“Ah!”

Wu Mayan shouted and pinched Li Yao’s waist hard.

The young man had known that his mother and his foster father were in a close relationship, but he did not expect his foster father to be so audacious as to declare his proposal in front of more than a hundred thousand people!

The qi-trainers of the tribes were all dumbfounded, especially those from the Burning Sun Tribe, the Giant Axe Tribe, and the Feathered Snakes Tribe.

They had thought that they had located Xiong Wuji’s weakness, but now that he had put forward such a straightforward declaration, they suddenly felt lost and didn’t know what to do next.

Li Yao found Sha Yulan in the crowd. She was dumbfounded, too. Her face was red, her body was shuddering, and she was already on the brink of passing out. There was no telling whether she was overly scared or overly happy.

Xiong Wuji squinted, his voice suddenly turning sharper than ever. “Brother Yan Chihuo, Sha Yulan is the woman I love most, and a member of the Furious Bears Tribe. I want you to apologize to her for your insulting words!”

The daunting aura of the 99th level of the Refinement Stage was fully released, as if a tornado was rising up from the ground. Xiong Wuji suddenly turned more horrifying than ever!

Yan Chihuo’s face turned pale. He suddenly took a step back and swallowed. Then he said that, “Alright. I apologize. It was wrong of me to say that. Sha Yulan is definitely not a witch!”

Everybody was dazed again, especially those familiar with Yan Chihuo.

Yan Chihuo suddenly changed his tone and shrieked, “I thought that Sha Yulan, the ‘witch’ from space, had been deceiving our Chief Xiong with pillow talk and finally planted the idea of meeting space residents into your head!

“I was wrong. Very wrong!

“I didn’t know until this morning that Sha Yulan is indeed not a witch. She is just a poor woman whom you have been using as your camouflage!

“You were never spellbound by her!

“Since the very beginning, long before she arrived in Iron Plateau, Xiong Wuji, the ambitious schemer, has been planning to get in touch with space residents. Everything has been within your control. Her arrival merely gave you a perfect excuse for your cause!

“All this time, the Burning Sun Tribe, the Feathered Snakes Tribe, and the Giant Axe Tribe believed that Sha Yulan beguiled you and that you were confused because of her. In fact, it was never the case!

“The truth, and the biggest secret that my father discovered, is—”

Yan Chihuo pointed at Xiong Wuji’s nose, his fingernails pale and his fingertips shivering.

Xiong Wuji’s expression suddenly turned extremely weird. The aura around him became sharp beyond his control.

Coldness beamed out of the eyes of the chief of the Giant Axe Tribe and the chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe. They made a step forward simultaneously and shielded Yan Chihuo.

“Xiong Wuji, you never saw this coming, did you?”

Yan Chihuo laughed out loud. “You thought that your secret would be safe forever after you killed my father, but you didn’t know that my father passed on the secret to me smartly before his death!

“Chiefs, elders, and seniors of all the six tribes of Iron Plateau!

“Brothers and sisters of the six tribes!

“And the qi-trainers in the Furious Bears Tribe who have been fooled by Xiong Wuji!

“Listen to me carefully!

“The man standing right before your eyes, the greatest hero on this planet who has slain a calamity-level beast on his own, known as the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, Xiong Wuji…

“…is actually a space resident!”

Chapter 595: Beside the Black Tooth River

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Silence. There was nothing but dead silence throughout the area.

Yan Chihuo’s last announcement was so shocking that it blew the minds of all one hundred thousand qi-trainers like a super crystal bomb.

The vast camp was absolutely quiet. It was not until three seconds later that hissing sounds soared to the sky.

That was because everyone had opened their mouth as wide as humanly possible and was gasping hard.

More than ten seconds later, shouts and curses occurred in the Burning Sun Tribe, the Feathered Snakes Tribe, and the Giant Axe Tribe.

The qi-trainers of the Furious Bears Tribe were more than angry. They called Yan Chihuo’s name and condemned that he was talking nonsense.

The hair all over Wu Mayan’s body was shivering. He crouched and could barely talk. “Father Xiong. He—he—he—”

Li Yao was dumbfounded, too, but he also realized that it was probably true. The accusation was too appalling and unbelievable. Yan Chihuo wouldn’t have dared to say that if he did not have valid proof.

If that was the case, Yan Zhengdong’s uncanny words last night would make perfect sense.

As it turns out, you are the one with the real acting skills here, Chief Xiong!

Li Yao secretly commended him while he recalled everything he had experienced after he had come to the Furious Bears Tribe. Many problems that had been troubling him had answers now!

He had been curious why Xiong Wuji trusted a space resident so quickly and even fully opened the core secrets of the temple of techniques to him!

He had thought that it was because Iron Plateau natives were simple and straightforward. But the truth was…

He peeped at Xiong Wuji and found his face gloomy with pity and fury. The chief’s fists were clenched so hard that the air might be exploding at any moment. Yet, he didn’t give any refutation.

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe took a long breath and said solemnly, “Yan Chihuo, this is a very severe accusation. You must not attack other people blindly. What evidence do you have?

“If you do not have valid proof and simply speculate that the chief of another tribe is a space resident, the Giant Axe Tribe will not stand on the Burning Sun Tribe’s side!”

The chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe shrieked, “Nor will the Feathered Snakes Tribe! This is too shocking! What proof have you got?”

Yan Chihuo sniffed and laughed. Then suddenly, tears flowed out of his eyes. He took out a piece of creased paper from his pocked and said, “This is proof!

“After my father and Xiong Wuji’s meeting failed, the more he thought of it, the less confident he became. Therefore, he released a stream of sharp spiritual gas and left shallow traces on the paper.

“The words were not readily recognizable. But as long as you mix the ash of the Candle Grass and the Purple Firefly Powder into water and soak the paper into the solution, the substances will have chemical reactions with the spiritual gas left on the paper, and you can see the tiny words appearing on the paper!

“The paper was folded and thrown into the dustbin.

“But when we were checking our father’s body, we found that his eyes were unclosed and focused on the dustbin. That’s how we retrieved the paper in the end!

“Leaving ‘hidden script’ with spiritual gas was our father’s favorite game that he liked to play when my brother and I were young. I did not expect that he would be playing the game with us for the last time in such a way!”

Yan Chihuo was weeping again while he was talking.

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe nodded. “That explains a lot. What exactly was written on the paper? Don’t be hasty and take your time. If possible, don’t skip any words on it.”

Yan Chihuo sniffed. Biting his lips, he said, “It was a story that happened beside the Black Tooth River more than forty years ago.”

The Black Tooth River was a big river to the south of the territories of the six tribes. The river was rapid, the spiritual energy was abundant, and there were many resources. Occasionally, many precious beasts would go by the place. It was a prime hunting spot for many qi-trainers in the six tribes.

“That year, my father went hunting with his companions in the tribe upstream of the Black Tooth River. They met a very cunning demon beast along the way, which escaped even though it had been shot.

“My father pursued the demon beast and got further and further away from his companion. Eventually, they lost in touch with each other, and my father did not know where he ended up.

“At that time, he encountered Xiong Dachuan, a qi-trainer from the Furious Bears Tribe!

“The two tribes were in better relationships than right now, and Xiong Dachuan was a well-known warrior among the six tribes. My father had always admired his valiancy. The two of them had a nice talk.

“As it turned out, Xiong Dachuan had an only son who was not one year old yet. His wife passed away because of dystocia during labor. The baby had congenital muscular dystrophy and suffered from various other diseases. There was no telling how much longer he could survive.

“According to the shaman in the tribe, only a ‘Seven-colored Phoenix Tail Mushroom’, a rarely-seen fungus, could potentially restore his son’s health. He was looking for such mushrooms in the origin of the Black Tooth River.

“Then, the two of them went further to the upstream and hunted together. But later, my father discovered in a bush the remains of an escape capsule and some items for infants when they were apart.

“A while later, he heard Xiong Dachuan roaring. My father hurried to join him and check, only to find the bones of a baby that had been gnawed out of shape by demon beasts.

“It must’ve been an escape capsule of the space residents that malfunctioned during the forced landing to Iron Plateau. It happened to fall into the depths of the desert and became the victim of demon beasts.

“It was not unusual in Iron Plateau. Although the Burning Sun Tribe was never fond of the space residents, young infants were innocent after all. My father and Xiong Dachuan slayed two demon beasts that were planning to feast upon the bones and buried the poor baby. Then, they searched the escape capsule’s surroundings for a day and a night, only to find no other space residents.

“They must’ve been eaten by the demon beast if there were any survivors of the crash.

“My father did not think too much of the incident and dropped it when he returned to the Burning Sun Tribe. He and Xiong Dachuan became good friends and exchanged quite a few letters. My father had even asked somebody to bring a batch of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to aid in his son’s recovery.

“Later, it was said that Xiong Dachuan finally found the Seven-colored Phoenix Tail Mushroom, and his sick son gradually got better. My father was very happy for him!

“But what was odd was that, although my father valued his friendship with Xiong Dachuan and planned to visit him in the Furious Bears Tribe many times in the years to come, Xiong Dachuan always avoided meeting my father on purpose.

“My father did not overthink it. He thought that their friendship was affected by the relationship between the two tribes that was getting more and more intense. In the end, he dropped the idea once and for all.

“But fifteen years ago, Xiong Dachuan suddenly sent a letter to my father and insisted that my father come to meet him.

“My father was quite confused, but he went to Furious Bears City anyway. Then he learned that Xiong Dachuan was dying due to heavy wounds from a hunting trip.

“Xiong Dachuan was in a high fever for three days and three nights, and his head had become muddled. But my father’s arrival somehow refreshed him. He dismissed everyone else and talked to my father alone.

“Xiong Dachuan told my father that he did a silly thing more than twenty years ago which had been bothering him the whole time. He could not let go of it, nor did he know how to face my father!

“My father was greatly baffled and pursued further, but Xiong Dachuan went mad again and kept repeating ‘Black Tooth River’ without offering any explanation.

“Three days after my father left, he heard news of Xiong Dachuan’s death.

“My father was puzzled by Xiong Dachuan’s riddle. More than twenty years ago. Black Tooth River. The clues suggested their first encounter. Then what was the silly thing that he referred to?

“It was not until the next battle of the apocalypse, in which Xiong Wuji, Xiong Dachuan’s only son, greatly distinguished himself and made unparalleled contributions to the elimination of the calamity-level beast, thereby becoming known as the best expert in the younger generation of the six tribes, that my father noticed him!

“However, after his observation, my father found that Xiong Wuji and Xiong Dachuan were not alike at all!

“Xiong Dachuan was a typical qi-trainer of the Furious Bears Tribe. He was more than 2.4 meters tall and extremely muscular, literally a moving iron tower. His face was long, and his jaw was very sharp!

“Xiong Wuji, on the other hand, was less than two meters tall, even shorter than the common qi-trainers of his tribe. His shoulders were not wide, and his face was square.

“My father thought that he took after his mother. But after investigation, my father found that his birth mother was also more than 2.2 meters tall. She had been a marvelous warrior herself!

“How come the son of two giants was so short? Was it because of his natural-born deficiencies? But how did a child with natural-born deficiencies grow into the best expert in the younger generation of the six tribes?

“Beside the Black Tooth River, more than twenty years ago…

“My father pondered for a long time and finally figured out a shocking theory. Was it possible that Xiong Dachuan’s only son had died more than twenty years ago, and the ‘Xiong Wuji’ right now was a space resident that he had picked up beside the Black Tooth River?”

The chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe couldn’t help but remark, “But years ago, your father saw the bones of the baby and buried his body himself!”

“Indeed. It was the exact question that perplexed my father.”

Yan Chihuo nodded and continued. “The question remained unanswered for several years, until he went to congratulate the wife of a qi-trainer who had given birth to twins.

“When he saw the twins, he was suddenly enlightened and thought—what if there had been more than one baby in the escape capsule?

“A pair of twins were placed in the escape capsule. One of them was killed by the demon beast, while the other one was lucky enough to survive the disaster and be discovered by Xiong Dachuan!

“New fathers are always tender to babies. Besides, Xiong Dachuan’s own son was dying. He must’ve hidden the surviving child with the complicated feelings!

“Later, his only son still died, and he simply replaced the deceased baby with the child from space that he’d picked up beside the Black Tooth River!

“There wouldn’t be much difference between one-year-olds. Besides, Xiong Dachuan’s son had been sick since he was born and remained in his home all the time. Few people had seen him in person. Even if somebody else noticed the anomaly of the baby, Xiong Dachuan could always give the credit to the Seven-colored Phoenix Tail Mushroom, which had turned his son plump and healthy again. That was perfectly convincing!

“If the aptitude of the baby had been insufficient and he ended up being an ordinary member of the Furious Bears Tribe, maybe Xiong Dachuan would have been less bothered.

“However, seeing the child from space reveal a natural talent in training and was almost certain to become an important figure of the tribe in the future, Xiong Dachuan naturally felt uneasy and therefore summoned my father to Furious Bears City.

“It was a shame that he had been grasped by madness before he was able to tell the story. When my father thought the whole thing through, it was already years later!

“At that time, Xiong Wuji had earned the title of ‘best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau’ and was already nominated as the chief of the Furious Bears Tribe!”

Chapter 596: Truth Cabinet

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

“Although my late father’s rashness is well known, he knew that he had to do everything cautiously because the conclusion was too shocking!

“By that time, my father had been the chief of the Burning Sun Tribe for many years; he was no longer just an ordinary warrior. Therefore, it was definitely inappropriate of him to declare his discovery without solid proof!”

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe slowly nodded and said, “Indeed. Everything is just Chief Yan’s speculation. It is quite natural that a child looks different from their parents. If a chief accuses another chief of being a space resident without valid proof, a war may break out between the two tribes!”

Yan Chihuo said, “That was exactly what my father thought. Therefore, he buried the secret in his heart and told nobody anything.

“A few years went by peacefully just like that, until Sha Yulan and her son arrived in the Furious Bears Tribe.

“The Burning Sun Tribe was better than bursting into fury just because of a widow and her son. But when my father thought of Xiong Wuji’s suspicious identity, he got anxious and wanted to test Xiong Wuji with the matter!”

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe nodded and frowned. “That explains a lot. I have been wondering why Chief Yan was so concerned about a woman from space, who did not even have the strength to catch a chicken, and her baby, who was still in his crib, that he even asked the three tribes to gather and force Xiong Wuji to kick them out. It nearly caused a riot!”

Yan Chihuo said, “My father has been a hero all his life. Even though he loathed the space residents, he wouldn’t have asked for a woman’s trouble. It was Xiong Wuji’s attitude that he wanted to test.

“In the end, Xiong Wuji took full responsibility for the matter and even agreed to fight three experts from the three tribes in an arena. Although he won the battles in the end, my father grew warier of him!

“However, suspicious as my father might have been, Xiong Wuji had never done anything harmful to the interest of the Iron Plateau natives. My father was not sure whether he was unaware of his birth, considered himself to be a real man of Iron Plateau despite his birth, or was still lurking and concocting an earthshaking scheme!

“My father had to be more vigilant and started waiting and watching!

“Then, there were only several years until the next battle of apocalypse. All the tribes were preparing for the war actively. It would be even more inappropriate if my father brought up the issue recklessly, which might have divided the six tribes and even lead to a civil war!

“But after the battle of the apocalypse, Xiong Wuji put forward the motion of large-scale communication with space residents. My father couldn’t help but doubt what his true purpose was, given everything that had happened in the past, and therefore strongly voted against the motion. He finally had enough of waiting and went to confront Xiong Wuji last night.

“Interrogated by him, Xiong Wuji admitted in the end that he had learned of his own birth from the mouth of Xiong Dachuan before his death more than ten years ago. It is the blood of space that has been flowing inside his veins!

“Even so, my father still never intended to reveal his true identity in public, because my father knew that Xiong Wuji’s heroic performance in the battle of apocalypse was his indestructible armor. Unveiling him would definitely lead to the ultimate confrontation between the Burning Sun Tribe and the Furious Bears Tribe!

“Therefore, my father simply reminded Xiong Wuji that, as long as he abandoned the idea of meeting space residents and worked as the chief of the Furious Bears Tribe dutifully, my father would tell nobody the secret!

“But my father did not see through Xiong Wuji’s personality at all. The man was brutal enough to agree with my father at the moment and immediately had him killed later!”

When Yan Chihuo finally finished his speech, he was crying so hard that he could barely talk anymore.

The hundred thousand people in the spacious camp fell into silence.

Unbelievable as the story that Yan Chihuo had told was, it was quite logical and explained a lot of things. Nobody could find any loopholes in it.

While observing Xiong Wuji’s face, the chief of the Giant Axe Tribe said, “Yan Chihuo, can we read Chief Yan’s last note in your hand in person?”

Yan Chihuo sobbed and said, “Such hidden script can only manifest once. Right now, the spiritual gas attached to the paper has all been consumed. There’s nothing left! But I’ve scrutinized the paper when I read it. It was definitely my father’s handwriting!”

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe furrowed his brow even harder. “So to speak, you still don’t have any solid proof?”

Yan Chihuo held his head high and glared at Xiong Wuji, his eyes burningly hot, as if he were hoping to bite some flesh off the murderer. He announced, “I swear with the head above my neck that everything I said is true! If you want proof, it’s simple. Let’s have the Truth Cabinet that has been enshrined in the Feathered Snakes Tribe delivered here and let Xiong Wuji stand in it. We’ll simply ask whether or not he is a space resident. Everything will be settled!

“If Xiong Wuji dares to stand in the Truth Cabinet and pronounce ‘I’m not a space resident’, we will admit that the murderer is someone else and that we’ve wronged him. I will bend my knee and apologize to him and do whatever he wants me to do!

“If he doesn’t have the guts to do that, it will be evidence that he has known his identity all the time, and that whatever I said just now is true!

“Xiong Wuji, do you or do you not dare to go into the Truth Cabinet? Answer me!”

Yan Chihuo was shouting louder and louder. The qi-trainers of the Burning Sun Tribe behind him were echoing him.

“Truth Cabinet!”

“Go to the Truth Cabinet!”

There were many times more qi-trainers on the Furious Bears Tribe’s side, yet their spirits couldn’t have been lower.

Most of them were looking at each in shock and panic. Unwilling to accept Yan Chihuo’s accusation, they were all staring at Xiong Wuji, hoping that he could give a powerful rebuttal immediately or even prove his innocence in the Truth Cabinet to wash off such shameless slander!

Wu Mayan held Li Yao’s hand tight and explained, his eyes red, “The Truth Cabinet is a piece of powerful magical equipment that was created before the apocalypse. It is said that the magical equipment can test whether or not someone is lying by monitoring the changes in their heartbeat and pulse as well as the waves of the soul. It has been proven that the results are absolutely precise!

“However, the operation of the Truth Cabinet is very complicated. It requires a large quantity of resources, too. Therefore, it has never been used randomly and is now sealed in the temple of the Feathered Snakes Tribe!”

Gazing at Xiong Wuji, the chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe had a grave expression on her face, her high-pitched voice turning low and deep. “Chief Xiong, you’ve heard Yan Chihuo’s case clearly. Generally speaking, it is very unsuitable to test whether or not the chief of a tribe is speaking the truth with magical equipment. But the accusation is too appalling and seriously jeopardizes the relationship between the six tries!

“Do you have any solid proof to answer Yan Chihuo’s accusations, Chief Xiong?

“If you cannot provide evidence, either, then the Feathered Snakes Tribe strongly suggest that Chief Xiong go to the Truth Cabinet to prove that you are not a space resident!”

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe said solemnly, “The Giant Axe Tribe seconds the suggestion. Such an absurd accusation is a huge insult to the Furious Bears Tribe. If Chief Xiong proves that he is not a space resident in the Truth Cabinet, the Giant Axe Tribe is willing to provide thirty percent of our trophies as compensation!”

“Xiong Wuji, if you are not a space resident, I’ll chop off my head and give it to you as my apology!” Infuriated, Yan Chihuo slapped his own neck so hard that it turned red.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for Xiong Wuji’s reply.

Xiong Wuji’s face was twitching violently. He gritted his teeth and said, “I’m willing to go to the Truth Cabinet to prove that I did not kill Chief Yan or ask anyone else to kill him!”

“No!”

Yan Chihuo bellowed, “Only the simplest true-or-false questions can be completely examined by the Truth Cabinet! There are many methods to bypass the detection of the Truth Cabinet if the question is too complicated!

“For example, you could’ve made a deal with your accomplices long ago that, as long as you cough or blink your eyes on certain conditions, they would immediately carry out the annihilation operation!

“Such an assertion as ‘I did not kill him or ask anybody to kill him’ is too ambiguous and very easy to circumvent the investigation of the Truth Cabinet!

“If you are really innocent, just go to the Truth Cabinet and declare to the world that you are not a space resident! I dare you!”

The chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe nodded and said, “Yan Chihuo is right. The Truth Cabinet can monitor the heartbeat, flow of blood, rhythm of spiritual gas, and vibration of the soul. It is absolutely precise.

“However, it is a tool after all and can be deceived by complicated questions. If you mix one deceptive sentence within ten true sentences, the remaining nine sentences will still be true, but the meaning of your statement might be entirely changed!

“Chief Xiong, now that you are willing to go to the Truth Cabinet, just a simple declaration ‘I am not a space resident’ will be perfect, right? As long as you prove your innocence, the Feathered Snakes Tribe is also willing to offer thirty percent of our trophies as compensation for the offence to the Furious Bears Tribe!”

Yan Xibei had been listening to the heated debate in silence all the time. Finally, he opened his mouth. “It is the Burning Sun Tribe that calls for the test. If the Giant Axe Tribe and the Feathered Snakes Tribe are both willing to offer thirty percent of their trophies as compensation, then, on behalf of the Burning Sun Tribe, I announce that, if Chief Xiong proves himself not a space resident, we will bring out fifty percent of our trophies as compensation for the Furious Bears Tribe!”

Humming sounds burst out again in the crowd when they heard Yan Xibei’s words.

The compensation that the three tribes were proposing was even more than the trophies that the Furious Bears Tribe had been allocated previously. It was evident enough of their integrity.

There was sorrow on Yan Xibei’s face. He sighed. “This incident is the misfortune of the Burning Sun Tribe as well as all the six tribes. Now, if we want to settle the conflict shortly, we must prove Chief Xiong’s innocence as soon as possible. A test in the Truth Cabinet is the best choice at hand! Heaven Wolves, Silver Moon, what do you have to say?”

The Heaven Wolves Tribe and the Silver Moon Tribe were in a better relationship with the Furious Bears Tribe, but with everything coming to this point, what else could they do?

The two chiefs looked at each other and tried to convince Xiong Wuji. “Chief Xiong, what’s happened has happened. There’s no other solution. Just go to the Truth Cabinet and prove your innocence! Rest assured, after you prove that you are not a space resident, we will make sure that the insult your just suffered is properly apologized for. In the meantime, we will provide ten percent of our trophies as compensation!”

“What’s the big deal about the Truth Cabinet?”

“Chief, just go to the Truth Cabinet! How is it possible that you are a space resident? Not in the world!”

“Chief, show them that you are an out-and-out man of Iron Plateau in the Truth Cabinet!”

On the Furious Bears Tribe’s side, many qi-trainers were shouting and yelling, not believing that Xiong Wuji was a space resident no matter what.

Xiong Wuji lowered his head and gave no response.

Like a black hole, he absorbed all the rays of light near him. He was silent for half a minute, before he suddenly raised his head again.

Desperation was written all over the face of the best warrior of the six tribes on Iron Plateau, when he said in a tone resembling that of a ghost, “That will be unnecessary. I am a space resident.”

Chapter 597: Too Exaggerated

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Many qi-trainers of the Burning Sun Tribe, the Feathered Snakes Tribe, and the Giant Axe Tribe had almost already believed the story when Yan Chihuo told it so convincingly, and Xiong Wuji had kept silent all that time. Now that Xiong Wuji had admitted it himself, a super-compressed True Qi container seemed to be exploding all around him. The three tribes were in an utter mess right now.

Even the qi-trainers of the Giant Axe Tribe, who were most famous for their strictness, were yelling and cursing.

The qi-trainers of the Burning Sun Tribe were all jumping to their feet, cursing him.

On the Furious Bears Tribe’s side, everybody was devastated. They could not believe that the pillar of their tribe was a space resident who had known his identity for more than ten years ago but kept it a secret the whole time.

The qi-trainers who cursed Yan Chihuo and swore that Xiong Wuji was in no way a space resident were all rendered speechless, blushing.

The chief of the Giant Axe Tribe and the chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe sighed softly. Even the chiefs of the Heaven Wolves Tribe and the Silver Moon Tribe were shaking their head, not knowing what to do next.

Li Yao and Wu Mayan were still in the crowd. Wu Mayan had been simmering all the time, but now that he had heard that his foster father came from space just like him and saw his foster father being lambasted by so many people, he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. Throwing off Li Yao’s hand, he leapt upwards to Xiong Wuji’s side before he shouted aloud, “Shut up!

“Father Xiong is a space resident. So what? That’s no proof that Father Xiong killed anybody! Why are you cursing him?

“Regardless of whether he is a space resident or an Iron Plateau native, Father Xiong has always been a great hero! He just slayed a calamity-level beast in the battle against the apocalypse a few days ago! He is a good guy, not a bad man!

“And you—”

Wu Mayan turned around and glared at everyone in the Furious Bears Tribe, his hands on his hips, “Are you all deaf? Do you not hear that they are cursing our chief?

“Just ask yourself. Was Father Xiong not at the forefront of every battle and hunting trip? How many of you have been saved by Father Xiong before? Did Father Xiong not give you the meat and the intact bones and himself the worst materials when he was distributing trophies? For how many years has Father Xiong been the chief? Just go to his house and see if Father Xiong has bought anything of any value!

“In the battle of the apocalypse a few days ago, Father Xiong lost one hand! If Father Xiong hadn’t fought so hard, the giant worm could’ve collapsed the entire canyon and buried all of you!

“Right now, just because the blood of the space residents flows in Father Xiong’s veins, you’ve stopped believing him and think that he is a murderer?”

He jumped and bellowed. Many qi-trainers of the Furious Bears Tribe was blushing in embarrassment.

Somebody suddenly shouted in a corner of the Burning Sun Tribe’s camp, “That little bastard is in Xiong Wuji’s gang! They are both space residents. Space residents murdered our chief!”

Hearing such words, the qi-trainers of the Burning Sun Tribe grew even angrier.

” Xiao 1 Yan!”

Sha Yulan was so concerned about her son that she crawled up to the heavy tank without even thinking and stood in everybody’s sight.

Many people were woken up by Wu Mayan’s words. He was right. Just because Xiong Wuji was a space resident did not mean he killed the chief of the Burning Sun Tribe!

Whatever the truth was, he was still the chief of the Furious Bears Tribe right now, and he represented the dignity of their tribe. How could they allow other people to insult him just like that?

This was Furious Bears City, territory of the Furious Bears Tribe. Whoever the murderer was, the Furious Bears Tribe should be in charge of the investigation and the trial!

Immediately, a lot of qi-trainers of the Furious Bears Tribe triggered their spiritual gas and lined up beside Xiong Wuji.

Many other qi-trainers had formed battle formations and tried to push back the formations of the other three tribes.

The two parties were shoving and cursing each other. It was quite a mess. Many people had unsheathed their weapons. Blood was about to be spilled.

” Stop! ”

Thunder suddenly seemed to burst out on the ground. Overwhelming soundwaves broke out of Xiong Wuji’s chest, and the intimidating aura around him reached every corner of the field. Everybody felt that they had been hammered right in the head, and their ears were all ringing.

Xiong Wuji took a long breath. His voice was sent to everyone’s ears like rumbling thunder with his extremely powerful spiritual gas, as if he was pushing his words into everyone’s earholes hard with a pair of invisible, giant hands!

“I, Xiong Wuji, am indeed a space resident who was picked up by Xiong Dachuan beside the Black Tooth River more than forty years ago! I admit that part!

“However, over the last forty years, I’ve always considered myself to be a real Iron Plateau native, even after I learned of my birth!

“I’ve done nothing wrong to Iron Plateau. I want to get in touch with the space residents for the future of Iron Plateau, too!

“I can say confidently that I deserve my late foster father Xiong Dachuan and all the compatriots of Iron Plateau!

“I did not kill Chief Yan. There must be a dreadful scheme behind all this! My own death or disgrace matters little, but the scheme might put the future of Iron Plateau at risk!

“Right now, the six tribes of Iron Plateau must be more united and find the one behind the scheme, instead of fighting and killing each other!

“I know that I will be the prime suspect anyway after I reveal my identity. The brothers of the Burning Sun Tribe have every reason to doubt me!

“As a space resident, it’s inappropriate for me to be the chief of the Furious Bears Tribe anymore!

“I hereby announce that I, Xiong Wuji, will no longer be the chief of the Furious Bears Tribe. The affairs in my tribe handled by me will now be handed over to the three elders of my tribe until the new chief is selected!

“As for me, I am willing to be locked in the underground cage that used to hold the manic warriors in the bottom level of the temple of techniques while the investigation proceeds!

“I will stay in the cage until the investigation is concluded!

“However—”

Xiong Wuji’s countenance suddenly turned extremely horrifying. The heavy tank below his feet fulminated, as if the metal found his fury unbearable and was screaming in pain.

“It’s true that I’ve been lying to everybody, and I have no defense now that everybody doubts me.

“But Sha Yulan and Wu Mayan did not know of my background, either!

“They are innocent. However outraged you are, just vent your anger upon me! I am no longer the chief of the Furious Bears Tribe now but just a common qi-trainer. I love them more than anybody else in the world. Whoever hurts them, so much as one of their hairs drops to the ground, don’t blame me for my mercilessness!”

When ‘mercilessness’ rushed out of his mouth, the heavy tank below Xiong Wuji’s feet couldn’t bear it any longer and collapsed with an explosion. It had almost been pressed to the ground by Xiong Wuji’s immense spiritual gas!

The qi-trainers who had been cursing him loudly were soaked in cold sweat. For some reason, their profanities were all swallowed by themselves.

It was not until this moment that they realized, whether Xiong Wuji was an Iron Plateau native or a space resident, he was still a strong expert in the 99th level of the Refinement Stage, and not a push-over that they could do whatever they wanted do!

…

Late at night, in a special prison cell used to lock the mentally deranged qi-trainers in the depths of the temple of techniques deep underground…

Since all the manic warriors had been sacrificed in the battle of apocalypse, Xiong Wuji was all by himself in the prison cell. He was sitting cross-legged in a dark corner. His breath was steady, and his hollowed eyes were glittering.

Suddenly, the hinge out of the prison cell was moved, and the door was slowly opened. Li Yao crept in quietly and closed the door.

“I didn’t kill him,” said Xiong Wuji calmly.

“I know.”

Li Yao replied casually, “If you really wanted to kill him, you would’ve made thorough plans more than ten years ago when you knew your foster father Xiong Dachuan talked with Yan Zhengdong before his death.

“Anyways, if it were me, and I had clandestine schemes, I definitely would’ve eliminated all the problem-causing factors ten years in advance!”

“Then what are you doing here?” Xiong Wuji asked, somewhat in surprise.

Li Yao smiled. “To discuss what we are going to do next, of course. Stop pretending, Chief Xiong. I don’t believe that you will simply wait and watch.”

Xiong Wuji raised his eyebrow. “How am I pretending?”

Li Yao stared at him in the eyes and said, “The whole drama you played after your true identity was revealed was truly seamless and immaculate.

“Too bad that your desperation as deep and dark as blackhole in the end was too exaggerated, and your face was utterly ingenuine. Therefore, I realized you were putting on an act.

“I believe that you and I are the same kind of people. We will not give up, even if everything is hopeless, as long as we are still breathing.

“Since you had such a big secret with you, you must’ve thought of the strategies for when your identity was revealed. How could you possibly be grasped by desperation after only a few words and simply locked yourself in a cage, waiting to be punished?

“If my guess is correct, this seemingly unbreachable cage of manic warriors is definitely not enough to stop you. You were merely trying to vanish from everyone’s sight with your submission as a disguise so that you could carry out your plans.”

Xiong Wuji pondered for a moment and chose to believe in Li Yao. Admitting that he still had backup plans, he asked, “You feel that everything that happened today was odd, too?”

“Of course it’s odd. Other than anything else, there were clearly several people in the Burning Sun Tribe who were fanning the flames!

“Logically, the fact that you are a space resident is completely irrelevant to the murder per se. It is not difficult to think through at all.

“However, according to my observation, several activists in the Burning Sun Tribe were fooling those around them and planting in everyone’s mind the notion that ‘space residents murdered Chief Yan’!

“The situation should’ve been under control. But misled by those activists, it went further and further over the line.”

Xiong Wuji clenched his fists so hard that they were almost cracking. He gnashed his teeth. “If I knew who planned the whole thing in the background, I would cut out their living guts and let them be cursed for all eternity!”

Li Yao said, “The entire Furious Bears City was in a mess today, but I managed to find a peaceful place to reflect on the accident and to continue the deduction I didn’t finish last night. Finally, I figured out what the outcome of the battle in the periphery of the Iron Plateau Space Zone would have been if I wasn’t there.

“Do you want to know what I discovered?”

Chapter 598: Monstrous Deduction

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

The coldness inside Xiong Wuji’s eyes were almost burning through the rocky wall of the underground cage. He said solemnly, “Is the battle that happened in the edge of the Iron Plateau Space Zone related to the revealing of my identity?”

Li Yao looked around and knocked off a sharp stone from the wall. He sat cross-legged before Xiong Wuji and drew a circle on the ground between them and said, “You will know whether or not they are related after you hear my analysis.

“As I said before, five warships of Storm Prison surrounded three starships on the Great Horn Exo Society’s side and were about to destroy them all. Luckily, I appeared in time and distracted Storm Prison, thereby disrupting the Temple of Immortal’s scheme.

“If I hadn’t shown up, the three starships on the Great Horn Exo Society’s side would definitely have been annihilated.

“Then, was it possible that the three starships would release a lot of escape capsules so that some of the crew members could run away at the last moment?”

Xiong Wuji pondered for a moment and said, “Of course! Since they were doomed, there would be hope to reestablish the group as long as some of them were alive. If it were me, at such a crucial moment, I would ask the strongest and the most wounded to stay and stall the enemy, while I demand mediocre experts and the slightly wounded to run away and avenge us later.”

Li Yao smiled. He stabbed dozens of dots with the sharp stone inside the circle, as he said, “I thought so, too. Alright. Let’s say that the Great Horn Exo Society and the other two Cultivation sects released almost a hundred escape capsules, which carried their hope. These runners would be the reasonably good warriors on the three starships and bring a lot of magical equipment with them. It is also very possible that they were equipped with crystal suits, right?”

Xiong Wuji nodded. “Yes. It was better to let them take all the precious magical equipment and weapons to increase their odds of escaping than to let the space pirates loot all the assets.”

Li Yao asked, “Then, where would they run away to?”

Deep in thought, Xiong Wuji said slowly, “According to your description, there was only one place that could help them escape from the space pirates. The planetary ring in the periphery of Iron Plateau!”

Li Yao agreed. “Indeed. The impetus and fuel of escape capsules are not very impressive. Whichever direction they chose to run to, they would have been caught by space pirates sooner or later. The planetary ring in the periphery of Iron Plateau was the only place where they could hope to survive the disaster.

“However, since I hadn’t shown up, it should’ve been more than easy for Storm Prison to finish the three starships on the Great Horn Exo Society’s side and send out many hunters to go after the escape capsules!

“The escape capsules would have no other alternatives except to cross the planetary ring, however risky it was, and land on Iron Plateau, while hoping that the ‘forbidden area for Cultivators’ would intimidate the space pirates and force them to stop. Isn’t that so?”

Xiong Wuji nodded. “Yes. Now that you mention it, it seems to be the only reasonable choice that the runners could’ve possibly made.”

Li Yao continued his analysis. “On Storm Prison’s side, they were faced with the danger of being surrounded by the Cultivators’ reinforcements anyway. When the escape capsules fell into the gravity pull of Iron Plateau, they would’ve calculated that the odds of catching up to the prey were close to zero. Therefore, they would’ve retreated according to their original plan. It is also a reasonable assumption, is it not?”

Xiong Wuji replied, “It is.”

Li Yao sighed. “Look, to this moment, this is a classic plot in novels. The bad guys are about to defeat the good guys, but the good guys run away to a place beyond the bad guys’ reach due to favorable circumstances. Everything is so reasonable, so natural, and so perfect. The ‘good guys’ would’ve felt nothing wrong, the ‘bad guys’ such as Fengyu Zhong would’ve felt nothing wrong, and the Cultivators’ reinforcements wouldn’t have realized that somebody was behind all this at all, either. Chances are that they would have been celebrating because there were many survivors after the disaster!

“However, all the choices and events would’ve led to a situation that had never been seen for thousands of years.

“Over the past thousands of years, few space residents have been forced to land on Iron Plateau, and most of them were civilians or non-battle-type Cultivators, such as Sha Yulan, who were of little threat to Iron Plateau natives. Isn’t that so?

“However, this time, hundreds of fully-armedm, battle-type Cultivators, who were equipped with powerful crystal suits, would have been forced to land on Iron Plateau!”

Xiong Wuji immediately felt a cold droplet of sweat roll down his spine. His eyelids twitched violently as he observed, “That’s very true. Since we went our separate ways five thousand years ago, there have never been that many battle-type Cultivators on Iron Plateau.”

Li Yao went on. “If one or two Cultivators unfortunately fell into the desert, they would doubtlessly become food for demon beasts. But the case would be different if there were hundreds of battle-type Cultivators equipped with crystal suits. They had all received the most professional combat training, and their teamwork was flawless because they were on the same side and had cooperated for a long time.

“It is very likely that they would have gathered within a few days and survived in the desert as a group!

“They knew very well that Iron Plateau was a forbidden area for Cultivators. Therefore, they would definitely tread lightly. Then, they would be faced with two choices. Should they keep hiding in darkness, or should they get in touch with the Iron Plateau natives?

“It was quite possible that the six tribes of Iron Plateau had already discovered them. They had two choices, too. Should they wage a war against the ‘intruders’ immediately, or should they talk to them cautiously first?

“I believe that latter choices would’ve been more likely.

“Although the Burning Sun Tribe, the Giant Axe Tribe, and the Feathered Snakes Tribe despised space residents, in my opinion, their leaders are definitely the opposite of reckless. Their heads are quite clear, and they would not attack the space residents without a good cause.

“If it were the Furious Bears Tribe, the Heaven Wolves Tribe, or the Silver Moon Tribe that the survivors reached out to, it is even possible that they would have been invited to fight the battle of the apocalypse together, just as I’ve experienced in the Furious Bears Tribe!

“However, it wouldn’t have mattered if the two parties found each other and if they were engaged in a war.”

After making the assertation, Li Yao suddenly changed the topic. “In the meantime, let’s take a look at the world of Cultivators in space.

“The Great Horn Exo Society was a heroic group whose feat of defeating space pirates had become well known. Their current mission was part of the Cultivators’ plan to lure Fengyu Zhong to show up, too.

“But the Cultivators did not see it coming that, not only did Fengyu Zhong really show up, he had even almost destroyed the Great Horn Exo Society as well as the starships of another two Cultivation sects!

“It was like kicking the Cultivators to the ground and slapping them right in the face!

“To preserve their face, and to honor their brotherhood, the Cultivators would have had no choice but to break into Iron Plateau to rescue the survivors when they learned that so many people had been forced to land on the planet.

“Otherwise, people would stop trusting each other. ‘Cultivator’ would become an absolutely worthless word!”

Xiong Wuji nodded. “Indeed. According to what you’ve said, people of the Great Horn Exo Society are out-and-out heroes. The forces of the Flying Star Sector cannot turn a blind eye to them, at least not ostensibly.

“That is especially so now that the space pirates are on the rise and all the Cultivators are panicking. The heroes who had become symbols for the resistance against space pirates could not be ignored. They would have to be rescued no matter what the cost was.”

Li Yao said gloomily, “I thought that the purpose of the Temple of Immortals was to exterminate the Great Horn Exo Society. But now that I think of it, I’m afraid their true purpose was to create a certain scenario in which a large batch of battle-type Cultivators were forced to land on Iron Plateau. Therefore, the battle had to be fought in the periphery of the Iron Plateau Space Zone and nowhere else!

“However, it wouldn’t have been an easy task even if the Cultivators wanted to save their fellows.

“The starships sailing in space are different from the crystal warships designed to fight within the atmosphere.

“Besides, Iron Plateau’s harshness is well known. They could not be too prudent when they were making their preparations.

“Therefore, when the Cultivators discovered that the survivors of the battle had escaped to Iron Plateau, it was not likely that they would breach through the planetary ring and land on the planet to rescue them immediately, which would’ve been a suicidal endeavor. They would make thorough plans and select some smaller crystal warships that were suitable for battles and rescue missions within the atmosphere. They would also adjust their crystal suits and form a large rescue team that was familiar with battles on the ground and the rescue work. They would only act when everything was set.

“All things considered, it would have taken them at least two months.

“Alright. This is about everything that would have happened in this circle. Let’s take a look at the other side.”

Li Yao drew another circle beside the previous one and continued. “This circle represents Iron Plateau. Things happening here are much simpler and require no deduction, because they are facts that are still going on!

“In the meeting of six tribes, the chief of one of the tribes is killed. Before his death, he unveiled a big secret that the chief of another tribe is a space resident!

“This particular chief from space has been trying hard to convince everyone to get in touch with the space residents. Moreover, the chief talked to, if not embraced, hundreds of fully-armed, battle-type Cultivators not long ago!

“Now, what have we got here? We’ve got tens of thousands of infuriated, rampant qi-trainers who hate the space residents’ guts!

“What do you think would happen when they learn that hundreds of fully-armed, battle-type Cultivators were living in the desert?”

Xiong Wuji’s eyes suddenly shone, his face pale.

Li Yao drew an arrow out of the circle on the right and one from the left silently. The two arrows collided heavily. He then drew a star that stood for explosion in the middle.

“My conclusion is that, misled by several ‘activists’, the tens of thousands of outraged qi-trainers would march toward the Cultivators and tear them to pieces.

“Not just the Burning Sun Tribe. The Furious Bears Tribe, to prove their innocence and that they had nothing to do with Cultivators, would be even more active to eliminate them!

“Such a conclusion is not very implausible, is it?

“Alright. What would the rescue team of Cultivators find when they finally reached Iron Plateau? The bones of the ‘big heroes’ who had been torn to pieces, if there were any left!

“More than a hundred thousand warriors who were extremely vigilant and hostile were on Iron Plateau. What would they do when they found that the space residents were ‘invading them on a large scale’? Would there be communication or negotiation?

“There wouldn’t. Since the moment they killed hundreds of ‘big heroes’ in the eyes of the Cultivators, reconciliation was no longer an option.

“The only outcome would be war. A war between space residents and the Iron Plateau natives!

“That is the most reasonable possibility that I deduced based on the information I knew. Please do enlighten me if you find any errors or mistakes.”

Li Yao finished his speech and looked at Xiong Wuji, his hands on his legs.

Xiong Wuji stared at him weirdly and didn’t open his mouth until a long while later. “Are you a monster? How did you figure out such a delicate scheme?”

Chapter 599: Point of No Return!

 

Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97

Li Yao crumbled the sharp stone into powder in his palm and sprayed it on the two circles, while he said casually, “I’m not a detective. I merely let everything run the most natural course and see what would happen.”

Xiong Wuji rubbed his rough face hard and remarked, “There is a loophole in your deduction. What if the rescue team of Cultivators were faster than you thought and came before my identity was exposed? There wouldn’t be conflicts if so.”

Li Yao explained, “Don’t you see? The one behind the curtain knew of your identity long ago. That was a bomb that they could detonate anytime they wanted!

“Also, the six tribes of Iron Plateau, at least the Burning Sun Tribe, has been infiltrated. The spies had everything under their control. If needed, they could even have created some ‘evidence’ to prove that you were associated with the hundreds of battle-type Cultivators who fell onto Iron Plateau!

“The bottom line is, there were bound to be conflicts when the rescue team of Cultivators arrived!”

Xiong Wuji asked, “Raising a war between the Iron Plateau natives and the space residents… What benefits can the Temple of Immortals get from such an endeavor?”

Li Yao explained, “Before the battle of the apocalypse, although I knew that many qi-trainers were in the ‘superlative height’ beyond the 14th level of the Refinement Stage, I did not think too much of it and believed that the Cultivators’ powerful fleet and techniques could destroy the Iron Plateau natives easily.

“But the battle against the apocalypse changed my opinion. In regard to combat on the ground, the Iron Plateau natives would definitely make the most formidable opponents!

“Despite the powerful fleet of the space residents, Iron Plateau was still protected by a piece of defense magical equipment very close to the stellar level. They could not launch large-scale attacks from space!

“Let’s say they bombarded Iron Plateau crazily from space, but Iron Plateau has the most profound underground life-support system. Years ago, even the apocalypse failed to demolish the planet completely. The space residents would never kill all of you simply by bombarding you from space!

“Therefore, when the war began, the space residents could only break into the atmosphere and start marching on the ground if they wanted to win the war.

“I believe that the space residents would definitely underestimate your combat ability—I doubt that they would see you as anything more than barbarians—before reality taught them a harsh lesson.

“If so, Iron Plateau would be a swamp of war that could mire and eliminate a huge number of soldiers in the world of Cultivators! Wouldn’t that be the greatest benefit for the Immortal Cultivators?”

Thinking for a moment, Xiong Wuji replied, “What if the Cultivators were smart enough to recognize the invincibility of the Iron Plateau natives on the ground after the few battles in the beginning and decided to cut their loss and retreat!

“We must note that the Iron Plateau natives do not have the ability to sail in the sea of stars. If the Cultivators stopped attacking Iron Plateau, we would not be able to counterattack however angry we were.”

With a weird smile, Li Yao observed, “Indeed you do not have the ability to cruise the cosmos. But other than Cultivators, there is a third force that boasts such an ability!”

Xiong Wuji shuddered. “Space pirates?”

Li Yao nodded. “Yes. Space pirates.

“Before, although space pirates are a major hazard, it has always been mobility and speed that they counted on most. They are a bunch of bandits after all. In regard to head-on battles, they are definitely no match for the regular soldiers in the world of Cultivators.

“Therefore, they can only block sailing routes, ambush carriers, and loot small towns. As for the larger star fortresses where the strong sects were stationed, they wouldn’t dare to touch them for the world!

“But let’s imagine such a situation. The space residents and the Iron Plateau natives were engaged in a total war and fought several battles hard on Iron Plateau, both parties suffering heavy losses. Then, the space residents realized the strength of the Iron Plateau natives, ceased the war, and ran back to space.

“For Iron Plateau natives, their homes must’ve been ruined, and their family killed, in the war. They were grasped by endless pain and hatred, but they could not catch the mortal enemies because they did not have vehicles!

“At this moment, space pirates showed up, with disguises and fancy slogans, naturally. They might have called themselves ‘liberty defenders against the tyranny of Cultivators’, for example.

“The enemy of my enemy is a friend. Now that the two parties both loathed space residents, with the propaganda of the spies who had infiltrated the Iron Plateau tribes earlier, they would definitely form an alliance swiftly!

“If so, the shipping capacity of the space pirates and the combat ability of the Iron Plateau natives combined would be so much stronger than calculating them independently.

“If three to five starships of the space pirates were to transport thousands of Iron Plateau natives into space, how many cities and towns in space could resist them other than Heavenly Saints City?

“I’ve been curious all the time. For an organization living in the darkness such as the Temple of Immortals, ‘confidentiality’ is supposed to be its lifeline. Why is it jumping out impatiently as if it’s worried that everybody in the universe doesn’t know them? It’s like the Immortal Cultivators are trying to kill themselves!

“Of course, Immortal Cultivators of the Temple of Immortals are not committing suicide. Their purpose since the very beginning has always been to raise a war between the space residents and the Iron Plateau natives, the latter being their cannon fodder. As long as everything went as planned, their combat ability could even be expanded hundreds of times instantly!

“This could be their whole scheme and their ultimate goal!”

Xiong Wuji was awed by the terrible potential future. He mumbled to himself, “It’s horrible. Too horrible!”

Li Yao said, “To carry out the scheme, the Temple of Immortals must’ve worked in secret on Iron Plateau for many years. Besides the Burning Sun Tribe, even the Furious Bears Tribe might’ve infiltrated by some of them. However, the most critical question at hand is, who killed Chief Yan Zhengdong?

“It seems difficult to find the murderer. But in fact, it is not.

“First of all, your identity must’ve been exposed long ago instead of only being revealed by Chief Yan Zhengdong before his death. If the Temple of Immortals learned your identity so late, they wouldn’t have been able to make such a scheme at all.

“If Chief Yan Zhengdong was the only one who knew your secret before, he would only have told someone very close to him who would in no way leak it out.

“Also, Chief Yan Zhengdong’s murderer was either someone so strong that he was assassinated in silence without putting up any resistance or someone extremely close to him who he wouldn’t have believed would assault him.

“Moreover, the murderer must be very familiar with Chief Yan’s handwriting and the game he played with his sons when they were young, so that the murderer could prepare a hidden script of spiritual gas in advance and make sure it could be found.

“Considering all the conditions, it is not hard to figure out who the murderer was. It was Yan Xibei, the elder brother of Chief Yan Zhengdong and the previous best warrior of six tribes of Iron Plateau!”

Xiong Wuji suddenly shivered and blurted out, “That’s impossible!”

Li Yao said, “Other than Yan Xibei, Yan Chihuo, who was jumping and yelling and demanding that you go to the Truth Cabinet, might be the true murderer, too. But I think the odds are low that he committed patricide.

“The reason is simple. He is too young and short-tempered for Chief Yan to tell him the big secret that you are a space resident. What if he went out and told everybody he met the story? A war between the two tribes might have started. I believe that Chief Yan would rather have talked to the chiefs of the other two tribes than let his impatient son know the secret.

“But Yan Xibei is different.

“Not only was he the best warrior on Iron Plateau decades ago, his integrity was also well acknowledged. As Chief Yan Zhengdong’s elder brother, he must be the person that Chief Yan trusted and relied on most.

“Chief Yan knew your big secret, yet he did not dare tell anyone about it in fear of the division of the six tribes. It was perfectly normal that he went to his elder brother to discuss the matter when he felt depressed, wasn’t it?

“But he did not know that Yan Xibei had joined the Temple of Immortals long before and was the agent of the organization in charge of the scheme on Iron Plateau. Such a piece of shocking news was definitely the ultimate treasure for him.

“After that, the whole scheme that the Temple of Immortals concocted was built on the secret!”

His eyes half closed, Xiong Wuji’s voice was shivering. “I still can’t believe it. Why did Master Yan do that?”

Li Yao sighed. “Of the billions of techniques and paths of Cultivation, I only ask you this—do you want immortality? If Yan Xibei has really joined the Temple of Immortals and become an Immortal Cultivator, what cannot be abandoned or traded for the pursuit of the so-called immortality?”

Xiong Wuji lowered his head and meditated. He suddenly shook his head and said, “No. No. Something’s not right. Your deduction has a deadly flaw.

“All the story you told just now is what might have happened if you didn’t exist!

“But the fact is that your arrival caused a problem for the Temple of Immortals in the battle at the edge of the Iron Plateau Space Zone. The three starships on the Great Horn Exo Society’s side did not release any escape capsules. Hundreds of fully-armed battle-type Cultivators were not forced to land on Iron Plateau. You were the only one who reached this place!

“Just because of you, would the six tribes of Iron Plateau be vigilant, and would the Cultivators send a large-scale rescue team?

“The scheme of the Temple of Immortals should’ve been disrupted when you appeared. Why was Yan Zhengdong still killed in the end?”

Li Yao replied calmly, “You’ve forgotten about the ‘Oasis Plan’.

“The Temple of Immortals has been planning in the darkness for too many years. How on earth could they put all the eggs in one basket? I think that the battle in the periphery of the Iron Plateau Space Zone was their Plan A, and it’s possible that the ‘Oasis Plan’ was their Plan B!

“No matter which of the two plans succeed, a large batch of Cultivators will be unwittingly lured to Iron Plateau!

“Just wait for it. I estimate that a piece of shocking news will come from the Dark Continent in the next couple of days, one that will attract all the qi-trainers’ attention.

“That’s because every plan will expose its loopholes and the designer’s true purpose sooner or later.

“Yan Zhengdong was not killed by you after all. If the six tribes are to pursue the investigation further, more and more suspicious points will be found.

“You, the qi-trainers of Iron Plateau, seem outspoken and straightforward with more brawn than brains. But in my opinion, the chief of the Giant Axe Tribe and the chief of the Feathered Snakes Tribe are as shrewd as monkeys!

“They won’t be deceived for long.

“Even within the Burning Sun Tribe, many qi-trainers will notice the anomalies of the accident a few days after they calm down.

“Besides, you’ve been the chief of the Furious Bears Tribe for more than ten years, and you boast unparalleled prestige. Without solid proof that you are the murderer, what’s the big deal even if the blood of space runs in your veins?

“Besides, although you were born in space, you’ve grown up on Iron Plateau since you were a baby!

“Right now, people may still be eyeing you with bias because of the shock. But after a few days, I’m sure many of them will let go of the prejudice. By then, you will still have strong influence in your tribe even if you are no longer the chief!

“Your identity is like a time bomb. Once it is detonated, huge damage might be dealt. But when smoke clears, everything will be peaceful again.

“Therefore, I estimate that the Temple of Immortals will definitely seize their chance in the coming few days and release another piece of devastating news that will lead the situation to the point of no return!”