Forty Millenniums of Cultivation - Chapter 900
Chapter 900: Mantis That Hunts Cicada ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Li Yao took a deep breath and entered the deep meditative state.
In his mind, a translucent himself struggled out of his body and darted toward the depths of the darkness. He charged into the underground temple and rushed out through the holes in the dome while Elder Nether Spring and the Fire Ant King were fiercely fighting!
The soldiers of the Nether World Watch were all greatly shocked and tried to block him, but according to the data on their speed and strength that Li Yao had collected a moment ago, their blockage would be far from flawless!
In the Star Swallowing Sea outside of the holes, a few devilish warships that belonged to Elder Nether Spring were naturally docked.
However, back when Li Yao was in the Building Foundation Stage, he had already resisted a crystal warship by himself. Right now, his combat ability was close to the Nascent Soul Stage. If he was determined to run away, were the few devilish warships enough to stop him?
Who can really block me if I want to run away?
Although the Star Swallowing Sea and the White Silver Death Desert were both terrible places, Li Yao had a lot of food, drugs, and clean water preserved inside his Cosmos Rings, which was an unchangeable habit wherever he went.
In the boundless silver desert, nothing could grow. Determination would be the real critical factor. What could Elder Nether Spring really do about him?
If Elder Nether Spring concentrates his forces, he won’t be able to search in every direction of the White Silver Death Desert, and it is very likely that I will run away successfully.
If he splits his forces for the search, I will simply swallow his subordinates one after another!
After the comprehensive analysis, if I choose to run away right now, the success rate will be higher than 85%!
However—
If he made such a decision, Li Yao would never find out Elder Nether Spring’s true goal.
Elder Nether Spring, as one of the four giants of the Blood Demon Sector, surprisingly knew that he was a chaotic-blood blood a long time ago. But instead of joining the organization of the low-level rebellion named the Blade of Chaos, he stood on the opposite side of the rebels and even established an extremely secret Nether World Watch!
Back when Li Yao was in the Heaven’s Origin Sector, he had learned a thing or two about the toughest special forces of the Blood Demon Sector, but he had never heard the name of ‘Nether World Watch’ before.
Jin Xinyue, as a saintess of the Pantheon of Demons, introduced the special forces and the secret legions in the entire Blood Demon Sector to him in great details, too. But she did not mention anything about the ‘Nether World Watch’, either.
However, the Nether World Watch, whose soldiers were all embedded with the demon cores, were certainly the most terrifying special forces that Li Yao had seen in his life, not even ‘one of’!
Forcing the extremely unsteady demon cores to output energy stably and melding them with the body of flesh and blood perfectly, such a biotechnology is definitely among the most cutting-edge ones even in the Blood Demon Sector!
Such a biotechnology must be supported by an enormous organization!
Elder Nether Spring was determined to explore the secrets of the Blade of Chaos and even established the Nether World Watch in secret. What is he up to exactly?
Li Yao recalled the words of Ning Zhongze, an elder of the Blade of Chaos, again.
It was said that the item they retrieved from Elder Nether Spring’s laboratory could potentially change the fate of the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector.
And Jin Xinyue had turned from a demon into a human being after absorbing the mysterious liquids!
What had Elder Nether Spring been studying and planning exactly?
No. After going through all the trouble to get in touch with the core secrets, I cannot escape at this moment. If I don’t seize a great opportunity such as right now, it will be practically impossible for me to uncover Elder Nether Spring’s secrets in the future!
Then, what about fighting against Elder Nether Spring with the Fire Ant King?
Li Yao thought quickly and ran another series of crazy calculations. Countless glass shadows exploded inside his brain, turning into the most brilliant diamond dust!
For a moment, he was about to rush out.
However, Neltharion detected keenly that quite a few strong opponents were still lurking in unknown locations.
The scent that slowly leaked out from the darkness stung Li Yao’s pupils like needles. He narrowed his eyes to the minimum.
Elder Nether Spring has backup plans!
Even if I go out and fight side by side with the Fire Ant King right now, since we have never cooperated before and we don’t understand each other’s strengths, the odds of success are no higher than 11%!
If the odds of success were above 30%, Li Yao might have decided to take his chances.
However, according to the calculations based on Elder Nether Spring’s current form, even if Li Yao showed up and butchered a lot of soldiers of the Nether World Watch, the odds of success were only 11%.
It was not a figure that was worth the risk. The smartest hunters and gamblers were often the most patient ones.
Since the two options were both inappropriate, he could only choose the third approach!
While the two demon emperors were fighting fiercely, Li Yao adjusted the position of Neltharion without alarming anybody, partly to observe the battle from a better angle, and partly to make preparations for his next move.
A life-and-death battle between two demon emperors was not something that everybody had the privilege to appreciate. Every collision between the Fire Ant King and Elder Nether Spring seemed to have turned into translucent data streams that flowed into Li Yao’s brain through Neltharion. He felt that he was enjoying a great meal and could not have been more satisfied.
Inside the underground temple, the charges of the Fire Ant King were all pushed back by the clones of Elder Nether Spring. Except for the numerous ants that were wasted during the endeavors, neither of them made significant progress.
However, the elites of the Blade of Chaos that the Fire Ant King had brought with him had almost been entirely suppressed by the Nether World Watch!
The Fire Ant King was more than infuriated and lost his patience. The fire giant behind him was finally melded into his real body, which was wearing the armor of flames, before he turned into a roaring dragon and dashed toward the dome of the temple!
Po! Po! Po!
Seven clones of Elder Nether Spring stood in his way, only to be destroyed unstoppably, turning to shivering smoke while the burnt bodies of ants fell to the ground like a storm.
The Fire Ant King finally got rid of the harassment of Elder Nether Spring’s clones and rushed toward the dome that had been drilled through by his brother. He seemed to be planning to escape through the dome.
However, the moment he was closest to the dome, the head of the fiery dragon suddenly exploded, and a shooting star darted out of the head toward the east side of the temple rapidly!
The cicada had gotten out of its shell!
The fiery dragons made of countless Thousand Ghostly Fire Ants continued crashing toward the dome of the temple, forming furiously burning clouds in midair.
In the meantime, the Fire Ant King turned into a streak of brightness and flew into the pathway that he came from.
The rest of the clones of Elder Nether Spring and the soldiers of the Nether World Watch were mostly blinded by the burning clouds, and their senses were disrupted. They did not have enough time to stop him!
The Fire Ant King was about to successfully escape when three streaks of brightness darted out of the path and hit him one after another!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
It sounded like that the main guns of a devilish warship and a crystal warship had leaned against each other and opened fire three times brutally. The collision was so powerful that Li Yao suspected that the underground temple might have collapsed.
Airwaves that looked like ripples resulting from the collisions swept across the temple each replacing the last like a tide!
The first two streaks of brightness were both knocked away by the Fire Ant King, but the third one blew him backward heavily like an iron hammer.
Then, three streaks of brightness hovered around him rapidly like three satellites and knitted into an impenetrable cage!
The first streak of brightness was black. It was a brutal warrior more than six meters tall who looked like a hybrid of a Hercules beetle and long-horned beetle. The black, lumpy shell of the warrior was even more magnificent than the biggest Ares Extension. What was more terrifying was that spluttering electric arcs were dancing on all the black lumps on his body, as if every bump of his body was a powerful electrode.
Just like the other soldiers, the warrior was embedded with dense demon cores. His breastplate that looked like a door plank was even installed with a demon core even bigger than Li Yao’s head.
Li Yao found it hard to imagine what kind of demon beast such a huge demon core belonged to and how long it had taken for the demon beast to condense it.
On the head of the brutal warrior that looked like a titan, two horns were grown like two long spears. Thick electric arcs were being generated between the horns and triggered a super intense attack every few seconds like the most powerful Taiyi Lightning Railgun, which slashed at the Fire Ant King like the auras of a saber or a sword!
The second streak of brightness was colorful and agile. At first glance, it was an attractive beauty. Although she was only slightly more than one meter tall, there was not the feeling of discordance of the dwarfs in her. On the contrary, she seemed to have been shrunk to half the size of the most beautiful girl.
She was wearing colorful soft gauze, and her bosoms could be vaguely seen and were almost jumping. The gauze folded into two enormous butterfly wings on her back. All kinds of flowers were flourishing on the wings, making them exceptionally glamorous. The dazzling colors were also flowing slowly both like a kaleidoscope and like a splendid swirl!
The butterfly demon was dancing elegantly, leaving clusters of colorful powder anywhere she reached. Li Yao noticed that the Fire Ant King was weirdly slowed down the moment he touched the powder although his speed was rather high in the beginning. He also had an indescribable, fascinated expression on his face, as if he had been grasped by hallucinations!
Those two must be the captains of the Nether World Watch. Judging from their speed and strength, they both boast the combat ability of beginning-level demon emperors!
Besides, the teamwork of the two captains is quite neat. The bull-like warrior boasts tremendous physical strength and damaging abilities, but his speed and frequency of attacks are slightly low.
Meanwhile, the butterfly demon is good at creating an environment with the powder where she could perform mental attacks. Even though the Fire Ant King could resist the mental attacks, he would still be slowed down and is more likely to be hit by the first captain!
If I have to deal with the two captains of the Nether World Watch, I will have to keep them apart and cannot fight against them at the same time!
Li Yao only thought briefly about the plan before the third streak of brightness had hit the Fire Ant King hard!
Without the enhancement of the Thousand Ghostly Fire Ants, and after fighting the clones of Elder Nether Spring for such a long time, the Fire Ant King was already reaching his limits. Besides, the capability of his enemy was higher than his in the first place. After the blow, all the fire on his body faded away!
In midair, the streak of green brightness condensed into Elder Nether Spring’s real body. He took a deep breath, and his eyes suddenly bulged as he blew out an overwhelming storm of green ants from his mouth toward the Fire Ant King!
Chapter 901: The Lurking Bird ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The moment the hurricane of the green ants blew out, more than ten sharp electric arcs also spurted out of the two spear-like horns of the Hercules beetle, taking the shape of various kinds of blades in midair and bombarding the Fire Ant King nonstop.
In the meantime, a large cluster of powder was shaken off the colorful wings of the butterfly demon and split into dozens of mirages that looked like agile ghosts, harassing the Fire Ant King.
The Fire Ant King bellowed and focused whatever was left of his Thousand Ghostly Fire Ants on his hands. He then bashed the hurricane of green ants hard, breaking them apart. However, the split green ants simply tied up all the Thousand Ghostly Fire Ants as if they were branching vines.
More than ten marvelous weapons that were the lightnings of the Hercules beetle hit the Fire Ant King overwhelmingly. The mysterious shadows created by the powder of the butterfly demon covered the facial organs of the Fire Ant King like a haunting ghost.
The Fire Ant King grunted and was slowed down. The antennae on his forehead were shaking at a lower and lower speed because of the corruption of the powder.
“Ho!”
The Hercules beetle opened his arms, the demon core on his breastplate that was even larger than Li Yao’s head shining brilliantly like the main gun of a fully-charged crystal warship. After an earsplitting roar, a lead gray pillar of light suddenly burst out of his chest and darted toward the Fire Ant King straightly!
Harassed by the mysterious illusions, the Fire Ant King sensed nothing of the incoming attack and was hit precisely. His skin and shell were all broken apart, burnt, and vaporized!
In the meantime, Elder Nether Spring condensed nine clones with the phantom green ants and dashed toward the Fire Ant King from various directions!
The clones appeared to be ghosts without entities. They passed through the Fire Ant King time and time again.
After every ‘pierce’, the aura of the Fire Ant King weakened a little bit. Not long later, the Fire Ant King was already riddled with holes and fell down from midair, barely recognizable.
“Lock!”
Elder Nether Spring’s ten fingers blossomed like a lotus and made dozens of hand seals within a breath. He snapped his fingers and sent almost a hundred tiny ‘seeds’ into the Fire Ant King’s body.
A moment later, the ‘seeds’ rooted and sprouted, growing into bright green veins.
The newly grown veins pierced through the Fire Ant King’s internal organs and all his joints, especially the critical parts such as the shoulders and the knees. They even pierced in and out multiple times in order to tie up the Fire Ant King’s limbs tightly.
Some of the veins even climbed on the Fire Ant King’s head like vipers and crawled into his mouth and nose.
Along with the pace of Elder Nether Spring’s breath, the ‘veins’ were fluctuating with green liquids that could have been blood or poison!
As a demon emperor, the Fire Ant King had extremely strong vitality. Despite the thunderous strike of the Hercules beetle and the repetitive piercing by Elder Nether Spring’s clones, he was back to himself quickly.
However, the weird ‘seeds’ and ‘veins’ were like the strongest shackles, rendering him unable to move and grumbling in excruciating pain with his eyes almost bulging out.
Li Yao felt that his blood was boiling while he observed the battle from the lower floor.
This was the first time that he had ever observed two unparalleled experts in the demon emperor level fighting unreservedly!
Compared to the Cultivators, the demons were utilizing the spiritual energy in a cunning and weird way. The eye-opening methods of attack and the bizarre-looking biochemical beasts were all unimaginable for Li Yao in the past.
The ‘seeds’ that Elder Nether Spring shot out turned out to contain weird poison that could transform the Fire Ant King’s blood into a lethal venomous liquid. The Fire Ant King would be restrained by himself!
Li Yao secretly clicked his tongue.
However, the mental devils imply sneered. “Petty tricks. Not worth mentioning at all. I would very much like to know the taste of the ‘seeds’ right now!”
Li Yao immediately disapproved of the idea and concentrated all his computational ability on Neltharion.
Neltharion stuck close to the wall of the temple and slithered upwards without anybody noticing.
The capture of the Fire Ant King marked the end of the Blade of Chaos’ resistance. Very soon, the Nether World Watch had the situation under control.
His hands behind his back, Elder Nether Spring glanced over the underground temple casually. His eyes were particularly deep and dark when he stopped at the magnificent statue of the Pangu Clan at the center of the temple.
Dozens of dark, green beetles were hovering around the two captains of the Nether World Watch. The beetles all had translucent bellies that were embedded with crystals and carved with multiple neatly-made serial rune arrays.
The bellies of some of the beetles were uttering sounds, indicating that they were messengers.
The Hercules beetle was issuing commands toward almost ten communication bugs. “Team A, you have three hours to clean up the entire Mausoleum of Chaos and search for the remnants of the Blade of Chaos to ensure the safety of the place!
“Team B, set up a camp in the southwest of the underground temple and lock up all the captives after identifying them.
“The Blade of Chaos kidnapped a lot of our specialists from Bone Sand City. Find out where the specialists are and make sure that they are properly treated!
“Team C, build a temporary floating island on the Star Swallowing Sea right now and search the water area and the White Silver Death Desert five hundred square kilometers around us, in case the remnants of the Blade of Chaos are hiding in those places!”
Next to him, the butterfly demon also issued orders to the communication bugs calmly. “Team D, set up temporary research rooms in the southeast corner of the underground temple and start analyzing and studying on the spot.
“Team E, follow Team A and excavate everything inside the Mausoleum of Chaos while making sure that you are safe!
“Team F, stick together with Team E. Note that active demonic artifacts and viruses might still exist in the Mausoleum of Chaos. Isolate and extinguish them immediately should you find any!”
“Elder!” After giving out the orders, the two captains bowed to Elder Nether Spring respectfully. “In three hours, the Mausoleum of Chaos will be ours.”
“Excellent!” Elder Nether Spring nodded. “Despot, Swirl, job well done. Now, escort the Fire Ant King to our warship. A lot of stuff in his head will prove to be very useful for us!”
“Understood!”
“Understood!”
The Hercules beetle named ‘Despot’ and the butterfly demon addressed as ‘Swirl’ moved the Fire Ant King, who was no better than a corpse, to a metal stretcher. They then imposed almost twenty chains carved with spiritual stripes upon the stretcher before personally carrying the Fire Ant King to the surface, one in the front and the other in the back.
Now is the time!
On the second floor, Li Yao’s temples were bouncing crazily, and his heart was almost breaking out of his ribs. He decided to make the riskiest gamble!
He maneuvered Neltharion and tailed Despot and Swirl secretly!
Despot and Swirl were not really two demon emperors. However, after the enhancement of the demon cores, they were very close to the stage, and their senses were extremely keen. He might have been discovered by them if he was careless for one moment.
However, their attention was focused on the Fire Ant King, and their vigilance was lowered after a clean, crushing victory. They did not notice that they were being followed at all.
Elder Nether Spring also did not expect that a weirdo named Li Yao was hiding in the Blade of Chaos besides the Fire Ant King, who was a demon emperor, with a piece of magical equipment from the peak era of the Star Ocean Imperium named ‘Neltharion’.
His whole computational ability was dedicated to his current plans. It also escaped his attention that a super tiny starship was slithering stealthily in the air!
Despot and Swirl slowly ascended to the ground through the holes on the dome of the temple.
Neltharion closely followed them like their shadow.
The vertical holes only had limited space. There was no room for dodging at all. Although Neltharion was in the stealth mode, Despot and Swirl would certainly detect it if they sensed something wrong and blew out their demonic energy for scanning.
Thankfully, as the captains of the Nether World Watch, they were both occupied with administrative affairs. Communication bugs were flying to and from them all the way, carrying their subordinates’ feedback and their instructions.
While they were too busy sending out commands, they had no time to bother about their backs, which were supposed to be absolutely safe.
At the end of the hole was a soft tube leaning upwards. Li Yao estimated that it was connected to a devilish warship.
As he expected, a moment later, they appeared inside a devilish warship.
The warship was more than ten times larger than the sky-hunting warship of the Blade of Chaos, with endless pathways around that made it as complicated as a labyrinth.
Following ‘Despot’ and ‘Swirl’, Neltharion took multiple turns and passed through the solid defense lines made of the soldiers of the Nether World Watch before it reached a specially made prison cell at the end of a pathway.
The prison cell looked like the stomach of a certain enormous demon beast. It was sticky and damp, with green corrosive liquids filling up the lower part, blocked by rails that looked like tusks.
Li Yao noticed that ‘Swirl’ touched a piece of pinky meat that was next to the prison cell softly like a feather. Then, the tusks of the room immediately retracted themselves, revealing a hole that could only allow one individual to pass through.
Is this prison cell a living creature?
Li Yao memorized the special technique through which ‘Swirl’ touched the soft meat.
Despot and Swirl threw the Fire Ant King as well as the stretcher in into the prison cell.
Countless tentacles immediately grew out of the walls and held the stretcher in midair.
The tentacles were similar to the synthesized nerves, with neurons all over them, which made them extremely sensitive. Anything that approached them would trigger their reactions.
The lower half body of the Fire Ant King was soaked in the acids. Burning sounds were echoing nonstop, and black smoke was even popping up from the pool.
Half a day ago, the guy had still been dreaming about leading the Blade of Chaos to its rise, but right now, he had already ended up a prisoner.
His mind seemed to be even more devastated than his depressed face. He had completely lost his fighting will and lowered his head. His antennae dangled down from his forehead like two pieces of rotten wood.
The moment the tusk cage was to be closed, Li Yao riskily steered Neltharion in!
The tusk cage showed no response. Despot and Swirl did not notice anything wrong, either. They simply summoned a team of the Nether World Watch and reminded them of something before they walked away.
It appeared that they were quite confident in Elder Nether Spring’s barriers.
Li Yao heaved a long sigh of relief. The most dangerous step had finally been accomplished, however dangerous the process was.
Right then, he heard the deafening noises of the functioning lifts leading to the floor that he was in.
Chapter 902: Invisible Strokes ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The Nether World Watch has come down to search for the remnants of the Blade of Chaos!
The few elites of the Blade of Chaos around Li Yao were all at a loss. Naturally, Li Yao would rather not wait to be captured by them there. He pretended to be panicked and screamed before he dashed into the darkness of the second floor.
The elites of the Blade of Chaos all realized that it was not good. Looking at each other in bewilderment, they shouted and dispersed.
In the darkness, Li Yao’s bloody eye was glittering like a shivering red star while he rushed in the darkness.
At that moment, his ‘eye’ named Neltharion was still in the tusk cage that locked the Fire Ant King. So, it was impossible for him to detect the situation inside the temple, but thankfully, the Fire Ant King had transmitted a large number of maps of the Mausoleum of Chaos over to him, which made him able to find his way.
Maps…
Not good!
Li Yao thought quickly and soon realized that, since such a map was sent over to an ordinary member easily, it was certainly not the complete map.
Besides, if Li Yao had access to such a map, the elites of the Blade of Chaos must have the same map, too. Since they had mostly been captured by the Nether World Watch right now, as long as there were experts adept at mental attacks, the enemy would soon retrieve the map.
Then, the Nether World Watch only needed to follow the map if they wanted to clear every corner of the Mausoleum of Chaos easily.
I have to hide myself in a pathway or room that is not marked on the map!
Li Yao accelerated his speed to maximum and upgraded his optical cells and nerves. The darkness of the pathway was no longer a hinderance for him. While rushing forward, he calculated the route that he had just passed and checked it with the map that the Fire Ant King offered to him, trying to figure out a new direction.
Shouts and screams could vaguely be heard behind him. The few elites of the Blade of Chaos must have been discovered.
Li Yao had no doubt about their loyalty to God Chaos, but against the soul-searching techniques, it would be difficult for them to conceal the fact that one of their companions was still on the run.
He had to find a shelter quickly.
Half an hour later, after running around the maze-like Mausoleum of Chaos multiple times, and when the footsteps and the noises of shells rubbing the wall were drawing close to him, Li Yao finally found a pathway that was not marked on the map.
Without any hesitation, Li Yao crawled into the pathway, embraced by the damp, suffocating air.
Very soon, Li Yao realized why the pathway was not marked on the map.
It was because the pathway was a drainage canal.
The Mausoleum of Chaos had been built below the Star Swallowing Sea. The designers clearly considered what to do if the upper part of the mausoleum collapsed and the lake water poured in.
Therefore, a lot of drainage canals had been established on every floor of the Mausoleum of Chaos. Some of the main drainage canals that were larger in diameter were marked on the map, but the secondary drainage canals that were no larger than capillary vessels were simply ignored.
Since it was a drainage canal, the front would certainly not be a dead end, which met Li Yao’s demands precisely. He stuck close to the wall of the drainage canal and turned off every pore on his body while minimizing his heartbeat and the movement of his internal organs. He even compressed his computational ability in order to reduce the flow of the blood in his brain and the heat that his brain emitted.
Li Yao forced himself to become a cold rock and integrate with the environment.
When he finally adjusted his body temperature to thirteen degrees, which was the environment temperature, and closed the last pore on his body, hasty footsteps echoed outside of the drainage canal.
The next moment, a few black beetles flew in.
The beetles were only the size of thumbs, but their heads were embedded with bright yellow crystals that were shooting out beams of light like searchlights.
The interconnecting beams of light drove away the dark fog in front of the drainage canal. Except for the dry moss and the mud, nothing was found at all.
Li Yao appeared to be a frozen statue, but his heart was like a volcano that was about to erupt. The spiritual energy all over his body was ready. Should the light of the black beetles have passed him, he would have immediately crushed the beetles and launched his strongest strike to blow up the entrance of the drainage canal before running away from the other side of it.
Thankfully, due to the vastness of the Mausoleum of Chaos, in order to complete the search in three hours, the Nether World Watch had to increase their speed and could not scrutinize every nook and cranny.
One of the lights narrowly brushed past Li Yao’s head and almost touched his hair. But very soon, the three beetles all flew back.
Li Yao maintained a frozen expression and posture. Even his eyelids seemed to have become made of iron. He did not move his body at all until ten minutes later when the footsteps gradually left the area. Finally, he expanded the pores on his body one by one again.
Sitting cross-legged, Li Yao took a deep breath. Although he was in the middle of a cold, humid drainage canal, he still put on a smile in great relief.
The enemy was in the light while he walked in the shadows. Elder Nether Spring thought that he had everything under his control. He would never expect that such a dangerous variable named Li Yao was still lurking in the depths of the Mausoleum of Chaos.
The game was finally back to the pace that Li Yao was familiar with.
Let’s analyze the situation first.
Firstly, since Elder Nether Spring has put so much efforts into the Mausoleum of Chaos, he is clearly very interested in the legacy of Chaos, too. Chances are that he is even going to study the tomb on the spot and move all the valuable treasures within the Mausoleum of Chaos back to his place.
Secondly, with Elder Nether Spring’s identity and social position, it is very unlikely that he will spend all his time in this place. In another few days, he will have to return to the Pantheon of Demons. Otherwise, the other demon emperors will certainly grow suspicious of him.
When Elder Nether Spring is away and all that is left is the Nether World Watch to defend the place, I will be able to do a lot of things.
After figuring everything out, Li Yao was even calmer than before. He took out a huge amount of high-nutrition food and refilled himself, planning to fight a protracted battle against Elder Nether Spring.
At this moment, he suddenly frowned because the other picture inside his brain was a bit weird.
On the devilish warship right above his head, inside the tusk cage, Neltharion had been lurking in a corner of the cage in absolute stillness, fearing that it might be discovered.
However, after the experts such as ‘Despot’ and ‘Swirl’ all left, the Fire Ant King, who had been as silent as rotten wood, suddenly raised his head.
There was still nothing but gloom and desperation on his face. Even his eyes had changed into a lethargic gray color.
But the pair of gray eyes now gazed at Neltharion without blinking at all.
At first, Li Yao thought that it was a coincidence.
But the Fire Ant King stared at Neltharion for more than ten minutes, without even moving his neck.
Li Yao could not help it any longer and steered Neltharion to move for one centimeter in midair.
The Fire Ant King’s eyes moved 0.1 degrees and locked onto Neltharion again.
Have I been discovered?
Li Yao felt dizzy. He could not figure out at all why the Fire Ant King could perceive Neltharion when Elder Nether Spring, Despot, and Swirl all failed to.
However, Li Yao’s plan required the cooperation of the Fire Ant King. Or rather, faced with the formidable enemies such as Elder Nether Spring and the Nether World Watch, it was inevitable that he got in touch with the Fire Ant King.
Even if the Fire Ant King did not find him, he would have to find a way to catch his attention through Neltharion, too.
However, how exactly were the two of them going to communicate?
In the beginning, Li Yao had not expected that the Fire Ant King would be locked up in such a weird cage.
If it were an ordinary prison cell, Li Yao could have flown Neltharion to the Fire Ant King’s chest or back and communicated with him directly via writing.
But right now, the Fire Ant King’s body was connected to highly-sensitive nerves. Chances were that his every breath and heartbeat would be recorded precisely. Any irregular movement would certainly raise the suspicion of the guards.
Right then, Li Yao noticed that the Fire Ant King suddenly blinked his half-closed eyes. Then, he bulged his eyes and coughed in great pain.
While he was coughing hard, his eyeballs were shivering rapidly, now to left and now to right.
What’s the meaning of this?
Li Yao did not dare to ignore his action. After observing for a moment, Li Yao realized that the Fire Ant King’s eyes were moving in a very special pattern.
If his pupils were regarded as the point of a pen, every movement of his eyes was actually writing a stroke!
Left, down, slash, backslash, dot. The closing of eyelids marked the end of a character.
Although there were dozens of combinations of the same strokes, Li Yao was able to deduce all the possible results with his tremendous computational ability and assemble them. After thousands of attempts within a breath, he read a sentence from the Fire Ant King’s eyes.
“Fly to my chest.”
Li Yao pondered for a moment. It was necessary for him to establish communication with the Fire Ant King under the noise of the Nether World Watch, and if the Fire Ant King coughed hard and rolled his eyes for a long time, even a moron would know that the prisoner was up to something.
Li Yao had no choice but to steer Neltharion to approach the Fire Ant King’s chest, passing through the highly-sensitive nerves one after another prudently.
Then, Li Yao sensed that a stream of vague demonic energy leaked out of the Fire Ant King’s chest and touched Neltharion’s shell softly like cotton.
Demonic energy?
The Fire Ant King can still trigger the demonic energy? How is that possible?
Li Yao was greatly surprised.
Everything was now easier now that the Fire Ant King could still trigger his demonic energy. Neltharion was a training ship in the Star Ocean Imperium and equaled to a mini version of Sparkle. It boasted all the functions that a real crystal warship did.
When Li Yao was in the Building Foundation Stage, he could only activate the most fundamental functions and let Neltharion serve as a scouting ship in the stealth mode.
Now that Li Yao was close to the Nascent Soul Stage, he was able to activate more functions on Neltharion.
Neltharion was enveloped by the invisible demonic energy. Because of the short distance, the precise changes of the demonic energy could form simple strokes like just before, and Li Yao could observe them to form complete sentences.
In the same way, there were a lot of turrets and stabilizer fins on the surface of Neltharion that could stand for different strokes when they were moving, too!
Li Yao span, moved three turrets and stabilizer fines, and gave a specific stroke to every movement. By drawing, he slowly finished a sentence.
“Do you understand?”
The changes of Neltharion could be accurately fed back to the Fire Ant King’s demonic energy. After groping for more than ten minutes, the Fire Ant King rubbed the shell of Neltharion with his demonic energy. “I do!”
Every sentence of the communication would consume a huge amount of time and computational ability.
But in such a way, the two of them finally reached out to each other right under the nose of Elder Nether Spring!
Chapter 903: Divine Blood of Chaos ###
**Translator: **flycrane01 **Editor: **Millman97
After figuring out the mechanism of communication, the Fire Ant King could not wait but shiver his demonic energy, asking, “Who are you? Be clear about the situation!”
“I’m the only one who can save you right now,” Li Yao snapped mercilessly, “so I’m going to ask the questions, and you will answer them!”
The Fire Ant King blinked. There was indifference that resulted from the deepest desperation on his face, but his demonic energy trembled rapidly and formed a silent refutation. “Hilarious. You have escaped the attention of Elder Nether Spring and the Nether World Watch, indicating that you must be in the demon emperor stage.
“Would a demon emperor jump out of nowhere and risk offending Elder Nether Spring and rescuing me just because of his sense of justice?
“You are here to rescue me because it concerns your own interest. Therefore, you are not my life-saver but merely a partner for me.”
Li Yao sneered. “Even if we are partners, you are now on the weak side and have no chips to bargain with me at all!
“You have only one chance. It depends on you whether we make a deal or not. If we split apart right now, naturally, I will suffer losses, but your losses will certainly be no less than mine.”
The Fire Ant King pondered for a moment and then replied frankly as soon as he made up his mind. “Alright. You ask, I answer!”
“You are certainly not as feeble as you appear to be.” Li Yao immediately said. “You are concealing part of your strength. Why?”
The former part of the sentence was not a question but a statement. Li Yao’s real question was only the reason.
“It’s simple,” the Fire Ant King replied casually. “The moment Elder Nether Spring showed up, I knew that I was already crushed.
“Nether Spring must’ve been preparing traps since a long time ago. Right then, since he came to openly fight against me, he certainly had thorough plans. Even if I tried my best to counterattack, I would have been screwed anyway. Why would I struggle so hard if so?
“It was obviously a better idea to reserve part of my strength and mislead Nether Spring. Should there be any new changes later, there would be a slim chance that I might reverse the outcome of the battle.
“Look—”
Although the communication with shivering air could not express the action of ‘laughing out aloud’, Li Yao could feel the delight in the Fire Ant King’s information. “Hasn’t a change appeared now already?”
Li Yao thought for a moment and said, “I can deal with Elder Nether Spring together with you, but I have to know the relationship between two brothers and Chaos first.”
“It’s too complicated,” the Fire Ant King replied. “Where do I begin?”
“From the very beginning. You are free to tell lies, as long as you are confident that your theory makes sense,” Li Yao said coldly.
The Fire Ant King pondered for a moment and sighed. “It all began a long, long time ago in a place far, far away.
“At that time, Nether Spring and I were not dominators of the Insect Clan yet—merely two generals fighting on the frontline.
“In this world, the strong prey on the weak, and the final winner will be the king. Even without the total war against the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the internal strife has been unceasing, with blood shed everywhere.
“Nether Spring and I were silver-blood demons on the surface, but we were the side descendants of a big family. Because of our distinguished capability, the main descendants were wary of us and even framed us up by assigning a suicidal mission to us.
“During the perilous mission, we were ambushed by the elites of the enemy, and our troops were entirely wiped out. Nether Spring and I managed to break out of the siege, but we were separated from each other because of the havoc of the battlefield.
“I was heavily wounded, surrounded, chased, and blocked by the enemy. I fled to a cliff by myself. Having nowhere to run to, I was unwilling to fall into the hands of the enemy because I knew that endless suffering would be waiting for me. Therefore, I simply jumped off the cliff, hoping to get a clean death.
“But I did not expect that weird winds and turbulence that looked like a giant swirl were right below the cliff. They brought me into a mysterious cave that was hidden inside the crags.
“It was a residence of Chaos.”
Li Yao frowned. “A residence of Chaos?”
“In today’s words,” the Fire Ant King said, “it was sort of a research center of Chaos.
“Chaos was not only the code name of an individual but also the name of an enormous organization. During the early stages of the Demon Beast Empire forty thousand years ago, the Blood Demon Sector was the last base of resistance for the organization.
“Therefore, residences of Chaos are all over the Blood Demon Sector. Research centers, magical equipment warehouses, weapon factories, training fields, you name it.
“The Mausoleum of Chaos is just one of the residences that was the largest in scale, highest in level, and supervised by Chaos in person.”
Manipulating Neltharion, Li Yao slowly lowered the main gun of the warship, as if he were nodding his head, and gestured for the Fire Ant King to continue.
“This particular residence was not large, but the secret treasures inside the residence were great eye-openers for me.
“At that time, I was heavily wounded, and my head was muddled. Remembering that my enemy was close behind me, I thought that I should look for a suitable weapon.
“As a result, when I picked up a rusted ancient sword, my finger was accidentally cut by it. My blood turned bright purple, mixed with a greasily smell, when it flowed out of the wound.
“I remember the smell clearly even to this day.
“The bright purple blood was soon absorbed by the ancient sword. It seemed to be connected to my mind and became an extension of my limbs. Moreover, a lot of brutal sword techniques were also sent over to me!
“Other than the secret training arts from forty thousand years ago, more importantly, I discovered a few dead bodies inside the residence and found the coordinates of a few other residences of Chaos from them.
“Perhaps because the ancient sword had drained me, I fell into coma.
“When I was back to myself, I found myself floating inside the surging river right below the cliff and struggling hard. Ferocious demon beasts below the river were even biting my feet!
“I was dragged to the bottom of the river by the demon beasts. Believing that I was doomed, I slashed crazily with the ancient sword that was connected to me, hoping that I should at least kill some of them before I was killed. Eventually, I was exhausted and passed out again.
“When I woke up the second time, I found that Nether Spring was carrying me and running inside a forest staggeringly.
“According to Nether Spring, he had found me in the river shoal, and the cliff behind me had already collapsed.
“Later, after three months’ hunting and escaping, we were lucky enough to make it back to the Nether Spring Kingdom.
“With the marvelous achievements during the operation, Nether Spring and I finally gained a firm position in our family and started rising up. Eventually, seven years later, the main descendants of the family who set us up years ago had all been butchered by us!
“However, the residence of Chaos that I found in the cliff was like a haunting dream for me, which I couldn’t let go of day and night. The records inside the residence that were completely different from the traditional theories of the Blood Demon Sector always felt fresh to me.
“If it were a different silver-blood demon, they might not have thought too much of it and just believed that they were unbelievably fortunate.
“But there was another great secret about me.
“You were observing next to us when I was fighting Nether Spring just now, weren’t you? Then you must have seen my ugly tail!
“Haha. The heavens played a terrible prank on me. I am not a pure silver-blood demon but an untouchable chaotic-blood demon!
“The two things combined made me uninterested in the competition for power in the Nether Spring Kingdom. I found an opportunity and left the Nether Spring Kingdom. I travelled alone for a while, under the pretext that I was training in solitude, but I was in fact visiting the other residences of Chaos.
“Because of the passage of time and the change of terrain, several residences of Chaos had already been buried, leaving no traces. But still, I managed to excavate some of them.
“I received tremendous resources and information from those residences.
“With the resources, I established Void Turmoil City and my own forces. Then, I gathered the scattered organizers of the believers of Chaos in the world and set up the ‘Blade of Chaos’.
“After the Blade of Chaos took shape, it was much more convenient to excavate the residences of Chaos. After combining all the pieces that I had found, I gradually noticed the ‘Mausoleum of Chaos’.
“It was said that the Mausoleum of Chaos was the biggest bureau of the organization of Chaos forty thousand years ago and the place where ‘Chaos’ was buried. His legacy boasted such tremendous strength that whoever inherited it would be able to change the world!
“At that time, the integration of the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector was already unstoppable. Countless low-level demons were being obliterated in the battlefield like cannon fodder. The Blade of Chaos reached the most perilous moment. I had no choice except to excavate the Mausoleum of Chaos at whatever cost!
“Then, I received a piece of very interesting news.
“Nether Spring was interested in Chaos, too. He had even created his own research centers for related studies, and some of his findings even surpassed mine.
“I thought hard for a long time. Finally, it occurred to me that Nether Spring might have entered the residence years ago, too, and discovered part of the secrets of Chaos, but he lied to me that the residence had collapsed.
“At that time, I had been heavily wounded. Naturally, I could not return and check whether or not the residence was still there.
“Years later, when I visited the place again, the cliff had indeed collapsed, but it was also possible that Nether Spring had demolished it later.
“After realizing that, I immediately regarded Nether Spring as the most dangerous enemy and decided to strike his research with my best. I could not allow to let him learn the mysteries of Chaos earlier than I did!
“But I did not know that everything had been within his calculations and that I was being manipulated by him step by step all the time. You have seen what has become of me and my cause right now.”
After hearing that, Li Yao finally understood the grudge between Elder Nether Spring and the Fire Ant King. Thinking for a moment, he asked, “You stole a bottle of mysterious liquid from Nether Spring’s laboratory in Bone Sand City. What is it exactly?”
The Fire Ant King was dazed for a moment, with astonishment slightly beaming out of his eyes. He did not expect that the mysterious expert would even know such a thing.
After pondering carefully for a moment, he still decided to tell the truth. “The liquid is named ‘Divine Blood of Chaos’. Of course, it is not the real blood of Chaos but an antidote, or rather, ‘reduction drug’.”
Chapter 904: War of Words ###
**Translator: **flycrane01 **Editor: **Millman97
“Reduction drug?” Li Yao chewed on the name. “What will it reduce?”
“Reduce the genes to their original appearance,” the Fire Ant King said calmly. “Our training methodology highlights the build-up and modification on genes directly, but the gene strands and cells are a precise whole. One moment of carelessness or distraction, and the gene strands might be overly stimulated, resulting in the collapse of cells and terrible consequences that follow.
“The organization of Chaos possesses various secret techniques to refine genes and all kinds of bizarre viruses that are extremely dangerous.
“Just now, in the Mausoleum of Chaos, one of my subordinates was accidentally scratched by the claw of a dead body. Although the wound was as thin as hair and it was not even bleeding, the weird virus still snuck into his body and overly stimulated his cells!”
Li Yao frowned. “What will happen if the cells are overly stimulated?”
“Imagine you are a general and the cells and genes all over your body are your soldiers,” the Fire Ant King said coldly. “Under normal circumstances, you would want to slightly stimulate the soldiers, to make them more hotblooded, excited, and fearless, so that their combat ability be significantly boosted.
“You would even want some of the ‘soldiers’ to mutate and grow into captains, centurions, and even chiliarches quickly, wouldn’t you?
“However, if you overly stimulate them and all the ‘soldiers’ are caught in delirium, refusing to listen to your command at all, what will happen?
“Your ‘army’ will collapse and retrograde into lawless, murderous bandits who will soon be killed by their own insanity.
“It is exactly so for the excessive stimulation of cells. The cells will go out of control and act on their own. They will exploit all the energy inside your body and rage like a volcanic eruption. Sometimes, even when the master is dead, the cells remain alive and attack those around them out of natural instincts!”
“The master is dead while the cells are still alive?”
Li Yao was greatly alarmed.
“Exactly,” the Fire Ant King said. “Individuals in such a state cannot be called ‘corpses’; they are amalgamations of cells, or to put it more accurately, the amalgamations of hungry, crazy cells!
“Their only instinct is to proliferate, expand, and infect. All the living creatures around them will be their targets. By biting the victims, they spread out the craziness as far away as possible!”
Li Yao gasped. “And the reduction drug can suppress the cell mutations?”
“Yes,” the Fire Ant King said. “The reduction drug can reduce the overly stimulated genes to their original status and pacify the simmering cells. Therefore, it is the antidote for all kinds of genetic mutations.
“To make poison, one must prepare an antidote first. Since the organization of Chaos was running a large-scale research center in this place, they were naturally prepared for the loss of control of the virus and its infection. The Reduction drugs had been produced in advance in case of such emergencies.
“I knew that we would run into a lot of unexpected dangers during the exploration of the Mausoleum of Chaos. Should anybody come into contact with the virus, only the reduction drug would be able to save their life. That was why I tried my best to steal the reduction drug from Nether Spring’s laboratory. However, it was looted half way through the transportation.”
Li Yao’s eyes were glittering. “How much of the reduction drug is there?”
“As far as I know, there is only one bottle,” the Fire Ant King said. “However, Nether Spring seems to have been working on the synthesized reduction drug, although I don’t know his progress. The good thing is, though, one gram of the reduction drug is enough to soothe simmer cells in most cases.
Li Yao thought for a moment and spoke again. “What if… somebody absorbs an entire bottle of reduction drug?”
The Fire Ant King blinked and moved his demonic energy as he said slowly, “Their cells and genes will be completely restored to the original appearance. If a demon has an excessive dosage, they will probably turn into a human being… just like you.”
If he were not in the darkness of dead silence, Li Yao would have let out an exclamation. Yet, he showed no response on the surface and shook Neltharion calmly. “What do you mean?”
The Fire Ant King still appeared to be a burnt trunk, but Li Yao had felt his sense of satisfaction because he was taking over the situation through the shivering demonic energy. “I’ve been curious since the very beginning. Even though you are an expert in the demon emperor stage, how could Nether Spring not have noticed you?
“But now, I’ve finally figured out that, although Elder Nether Spring was cautious enough to search for the spreading demonic energy nearby, it was not demonic energy but extremely feeble spiritual waves that you released.
“No wonder Nether Spring overlooked you!
“Although I cannot see the real appearance of the magical equipment, it is now enveloped in my demonic energy, which allows me to feel its every detail.
“The general shape and refining style of the magical equipment are similar to those of crystal warships of human beings and nowhere close to the fashion of the demon race. The shell that looks like dragon scales is clearly the distinctive feature of the Star Ocean Imperium ten thousand years ago.
“If my guess is correct, it must be a piece of training magical equipment, isn’t it?
“Although I can’t tell its specific model, it is doubtlessly a certain multipurpose exploration starship of the Star Ocean Imperium!”
Li Yao was not moved. He said coldly, “A piece of magical equipment from the Star Ocean Imperium, even if it is, cannot prove that I am a human being. Too many demons are using the magical equipment from mankind.”
“Indeed.”
After a moment’s thought, the Fire Ant King said slowly. “Magical equipment of mankind can be used by demons, too. But your manipulation over the training starship is so marvelous that you are spinning the turrets and the stabilizer fins as if they are your fingers, which is certainly not doable for anybody. You must’ve received the highest control permissions of the training starship.
“Demons were the mortal enemies of mankind in the Star Ocean Imperium. There is no way that a training starship of the Star Ocean Imperium would allow a demon to get the highest clearances.
“Besides, impressive as your skills might be, you barely knew anything about the basic concepts that I intentionally threw out to you a moment ago, and you simply kept asking me. All things considered, I don’t have a second guess on your identity now.”
Li Yao secretly spat. The Fire Ant King’s mediocre performance during his fight against Elder Nether Spring had misled him and made him underestimate the master of Void Turmoil City subconsciously. He did not notice the traps at all!
The demonic energy of the Fire Ant King was still shivering. “See? The exchange of information is always bidirectional. Those who seem to be raising questions are sometimes offering answers without them knowing.
“It’s getting more and more interesting now. A human expert has successfully snuck into the Blood Demon Sector and even joined the exploration of the Mausoleum of Chaos. What is it that you and the force that you represent want?”
Li Yao neither acknowledged his identity nor denied it. Taking a long breath, he asked the most important question for him. “According to you, the Divine Blood of Chaos can ‘reduce’ demons into human beings, which means that the same-origin theory is correct. Demons used to be human beings, or rather, they are mutations of human beings, right?”
“Yes,” the Fire Ant King admitted frankly. “The demon did not evolve from demon beasts; we are mutations of human beings. That is the conclusion that I’ve made after decades of research. Nether Spring must’ve drawn a similar conclusion, too.”
Li Yao’s head was dizzy. The turrets and stabilizer fines of Neltharion shivered rapidly. “Why?”
“I would like to know the reason, too,” the Fire Ant King replied. “That’s why I came to this place, to look for an answer.”
“Do the members of the Blade of Chaos know the truth?” Li Yao asked again.
The Fire Ant King rolled his grey eyes and said, “Not yet. I planned to publicize the truth to everybody after we excavated the sacred body of God Chaos and found the answer to the mutation tens of thousands years ago.”
Li Yao took a long breath and asked, “If demons are really mutations of human beings, and everybody is the same species, I don’t see any reason why the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector must start a war that will destroy both worlds.”
With a hint of mockery in his eyes, the Fire Ant King replied casually, “It is exactly because we are the same species, and we need air, water, land, minerals and other resources at the same time, that a war will break out.
“If demons are really ‘demons’, a completely different life form different from mankind that feasts upon rocks or electromagnetic waves, a war will be highly unnecessary.”
Li Yao was lost for words. He pondered for a moment and asked, “Will the Blade of Chaos stand against the Star Glory Federation?”
With a bitter smile, the Fire Ant King asked back, “Is the Blade of Chaos qualified to stand against the Star Glory Federation?”
The answer was not within Li Yao’s expectation. But on second thought, it was quite right. Whatever the Fire Ant King was thinking now, the Blade of Chaos barely had any strength left right now.
“Alright!” Li Yao said. “I can save you, on the condition that you tell me everything you know, especially the information regarding the Mausoleum of Chaos. Then, we will discuss how we can better take advantage of Elder Nether Spring!”
Their conversation was conducted through the shivering demonic energy and the turning turrets. Every word required dozens of times shivers and turns.
Besides, the Fire Ant King was tied up by highly-sensitive synthesize nerves and, therefore, did not dare to shiver greatly at all. The speed of communication was extremely low.
The dialogue just now seemed to be witty and brief, but it actually took them quite a few hours.
Thankfully, Elder Nether Spring and the Nether World Watch were too busy excavating and exploring the Mausoleum of Chaos to care about his dear brother. The two of them had plenty of time to talk with each other freely.
However, after almost twenty hours of communication, they seemed to be running out of luck—tremendous demonic energy approached the tusk cage.
“It’s Nether Spring!”
The Fire Ant King immediately stopped shivering his demonic energy.
His heart palpitating, Li Yao steered Neltharion to hide behind the Fire Ant King’s back.
CRACK!
The tusk cage slowly opened like a bloody mouth. Elder Nether Spring lowered his head and crawled in. The white, cold tusks closed behind him one after another, not leaving the tiniest gap.
Elder Nether Spring was wearing a satisfied expression, indicating that he had come back with loads of trophies. With such a smile, he stared at his blood brother, whom he had risked his life rescuing, with glamorous colors in his eyes. There was no telling what was on his mind.
But the Fire Ant King suddenly burst out!
Chapter 905: Unwavering Pessimist! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The Fire Ant King’s limbs bulged to twice their normal size, and his joints all bent in the wrong direction. His thick tail whipped thunderously in midair, breaking the synthesized nerves that tied up his body apart. The shackles deeply buried into his body flashed in glamorous brilliant as a series of spiritual stripes were activated to the maximum before they were shattered all of a sudden. The broken pieces raged inside the narrow cage like bullets!
For a moment, the entire prison cell was filled up by the Fire Ant King’s eruptive demonic energy!
He was about to break free and pierce toward Elder Nether Spring like a shining tusk!
However, when he was one step away from Elder Nether Spring, the ‘veins’ that Elder Nether Spring planted into his body earlier suddenly jerked up. The green venom inside the veins was flowing ten times faster than before, like leeches that had drunk enough blood and turned into hideous serpents!
All the vigor of the Fire Ant King seemed to be absorbed by the terrifying serpents. His body suddenly withered, and his skin became wrinkled. His demonic energy instantly vanished, and he tripped over, falling into the cold acid, only to be pulled back by the elastic synthesized nerves and tied up in midair again.
Li Yao was secretly surprised. The Fire Ant King’s actions seemed to be reckless, but Li Yao knew that the strike was far from the best he could make.
Judging from the delicate control over his demonic energy during their conversation, he was certainly reserving his strength!
He was misleading Elder Nether Spring even now!
Besides, after his desperate struggle, the demonic energy was raging inside the cage. Everything was in disorder, which was convenient for Li Yao to further hide Neltharion.
The Fire Ant King is trying to cause mayhem so that his brother won’t notice Neltharion.
Li Yao thought quickly and soon realized what was happening.
However, with Elder Nether Spring standing next to it, he did not dare to move Neltharion at all, much less communicate with the Fire Ant King.
After the Fire Ant King’s ‘final strike’ failed, he seemed to be grasped by the utmost desperation. He lowered his head and uttered miserable laughs.
Elder Nether Spring raised an eyebrow and casually asked, “What are you laughing for?”
“I’m afraid that this is the sincerest moment between the two of us over the past decades. We are finally able to be frank, without disguises and lies. Shouldn’t I laugh?”
Elder Nether Spring did not realize that his brother would admit his failure so quickly. Rolling his eyes slightly, Elder Nether Spring was deep in thought. His voice turned gentler as he said slowly, “Indeed. For decades, I’ve been in the Nether Spring Kingdom, while you in Void Turmoil City. Many things have changed. We cannot go back to the time when we fought side by side with each other and supported each other through the siege of thousands of enemies on the Devilish Teeth Mountain.”
Hearing ‘Devilish Teeth Mountain’, the Fire Ant King’s eyes suddenly bulged, and he gnashed his teeth. “Big brother, let me ask you, in the depths of the Devilish Teeth Mountain years ago, before you saved me, did you find the residence of Chaos as well?”
It was the first time that the Fire Ant King had addressed Elder Nether Spring as ‘big brother’ since the two of them met.
Elder Nether Spring pondered for a moment but nodded. “Yes. I discovered the residence of Chaos, too.
“You were heavily wounded, and your head was not clear, which stopped you from further exploring the residence. I was in a much better status than you, and I made more discoveries in the residence.
“Most importantly, I found a secret door that led to an even more secret base below the residence.
“At that time, there was no time for me to explore the ‘cave in the cave’. I could only remember the coordinates and the terrain nearby. After we returned to the Nether Spring Kingdom and everything was peaceful again, I snuck back into the Devilish Teeth Mountain in disguise by myself and opened the cave in the cave, receiving a lot of the legacy of Chaos.
“Later, I blew up everything.”
The Fire Ant King sniffed. “That explains a lot. I should’ve guessed it earlier. No wonder you were uninterested in my flying sword that could suck blood. Turns out that you knew what it was all the time.
“Besides, you knew it a long time ago that you were not a pure silver-blood demon but a well-concealed chaotic-blood demon?”
“Yes. I’ve known it all the time,” Elder Nether Spring said casually.
“Then I really find it hard to understand.” The Fire Ant King’s eyes were red, as if he was feeling both baffled and wronged. “Big brother, since you found the legacy of Chaos, too, you must know that the propaganda of the Pantheon of Demons is drivel. Besides, you also know that your real identity is a chaotic-blood demon that is even lowlier than the servants in the system of the Pantheon of Demons.
“So, why were you still so greedy about everything in the Nether Spring Kingdom, and why did you even become one of the twelve demon emperors of the Pantheon of Demons?
“If you had found out that I was the leader of the Blade of Chaos long ago, why didn’t you work with me to shatter the Four Pillars System so that all the chaotic-blood demons could master the Blood Demon Sector rightfully?
“With the capabilities of us as demon emperors, together with the legacy of Chaos and the great number of low-level demons, it would’ve been more than possible for us to succeed!
“Why didn’t you do it?
“You may be one of the four giants of the Blood Demon Sector and one of the most respected demon emperors of the Pantheon of Demons, but as long as your secret that you are a chaotic-blood demon leaks out, your reputation will immediately be demolished. However strong you are, none of the silver-blood nobles will listen to your command anymore. They will attack you together!
“Alright. Let’s say that you can keep the secret your whole life. What about your blood descendants? Don’t forget that they will inherit your curse of the chaotic blood, too. One day, your descendants will show the features of the chaotic-blood demons. By that time, the enormous enterprise that you accomplished will still be ruined!
“I don’t believe that you are too shortsighted to see through such a simple logic. Then what do you want exactly by founding such a strong ‘Nether World Watch’ and forcefully occupying the Mausoleum of Chaos?”
His question made Elder Nether Spring’s eyes turn extremely hollow. Deep in thought, he gazed at the Fire Ant King for a long time before he suddenly asked, “Even if I told you the truth decades ago and we led the Blade of Chaos to rise together, so what? Could we defeat the Pantheon of Demons?”
“Of course!” the Fire Ant King affirmed proudly. “I believe that the Pantheon of Demons will definitely be blown to smithereens if we encourage all the low-level demons to stand up against them!”
“What then?” Elder Nether Spring said coldly. “The Four Pillars system has been implemented in the demon race for thousands of years. It has been deeply rooted into the veins of every demon. If we pluck it out completely, we are definitely going to pull out their veins, bones, and blood.
“Let me tell you, I have contemplated on what would happen if I join the Blade of Chaos and fight against the Pantheon of Demons with you before. However, according to my deduction, even if all the low-level demons join our cause and the reign of the high-level demons is overturned in the end, the Blood Demon Sector will still be heavily battered by the fire of war. It will take decades before the world recovers again.”
The Fire Ant King narrowed his eyes and said, “Change always comes with a price. It is just an insignificant throe.”
There was a hint of mockery in Elder Nether Spring’s smile. “I would agree with you if we were in any era of the past ten thousand years except right now.
“Don’t forget that the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector have already started melding slowly!
“In the Heaven’s Origin Sector, there is a powerful Star Glory Federation that has been preparing for a war and coveting us!
“The Star Glory Federation is a nation of human beings that was only established five hundred years ago. It seems rather young, but it actually boasts boundless potential. The speed of their development is unimaginably high!
“Five hundred years ago, they were hiding in the inland of the Heaven’s Origin Sector, most of which was governed by the Far East Demon Kingdom and the tribes of demons on the Grand Desolate Plateau. It was almost a world of demons just like the Blood Demon Sector right now.
“However, it only took them a hundred years to destroy the Far East Demon Kingdom that ruled over the ocean, and it was only another hundred years before all the demon tribes on the Grand Desolate Plateau were exterminated!
“This is an extremely horrifying country. It has been in the state of war for the past hundred years, with armed forces of a tremendous scale. The development of their technology has been much faster than ours, too!
“Hundreds of years ago, they could not even produce the simplest tube-type crystal processors or equip the plainest crystal shields. But today, from crystal tanks to crystal warships, and from crystal suits to Taiyi Lightning Railguns, they are presenting countless types of new magical equipment every year like a big bang.
“Ten years ago, by studying the pieces of a crystal suit from the Star Ocean Imperium, the Star Glory Federation developed a very balanced model of crystal suit named ‘Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit’. The ratio of the cost to the performance could not be more perfect.
“According to our latest intelligence, at least fifteen formal legions of the Star Glory Federation have been equipped with the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and its derivative models. More magical equipment factories have been working day and night to produce even more crystal suits!
“Do you think that they’ve built so many crystal suit legions in order to stay behind their defensive lines and wait for our attacks?
“Then, you are terribly wrong!
“According to my deduction, if the Blade of Chaos really grows large and competes with the Pantheon of Demons, a civil war in the Blood Demon Sector will certainly be raised, and the third party will take all the advantage!
“Is there any significance even if the Blade of Chaos can overthrow the reign of the Pantheon of Demons? When the iron torrents of human beings flood on the boundless plateaus of the Blood Demon Sector, their caterpillar tracks that are embedded with sharp thorns will not care whether you are a silver-blood demon or a chaotic-blood one. They will simply crush all of us!”
“I didn’t know that big brother thought so highly of the Star Glory Federation,” the Fire Ant King said.
“Yes. I think very highly of the Star Glory Federation,” Elder Nether Spring said calmly. “In fact, forget the civil war between the Blade of Chaos and the Pantheon of Demons. Even if the Blade of Chaos is completely suppressed and the Pantheon of Demons is able to concentrate all the forces of the Blood Demon Sector to fight against the Star Glory Federation, I don’t think we stand much chance at all.”
The Fire Ant King was truly shocked. “Right now, there are indeed a lot of demons outside who are worried about the war to come and have been disseminating pessimistic predications, but I didn’t know that you were one of them.”
“Indeed I am.”
His eyes as clear as water, Elder Nether Spring observed casually, “Since a long, long time ago, I’ve been an unwavering pessimist. I firmly believe that the demons will fail, and mankind will win the ultimate war between the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector!”
Chapter 906: A Way Out! ###
**Translator: **flycrane01 **Editor: **Millman97
The Fire Ant King was dumbfounded, his brain not functioning anymore.
Li Yao even cursed in a low voice inside the dark drainage canal. He was so shocked that his surging telepathic thoughts almost exposed Neltharion.
Are you kidding me? Elder Nether Spring is an unwavering pessimist? This is really a very bad joke!
Li Yao found it absurd.
It must be noted that, of the four superpowers of the Blood Demon Sector, the Gold Crow Kingdom mastered the forces in the sky, the Sea Dominator controlled the forces in the ocean, and the Kingdom of Lion Butchers and the Nether Spring Kingdom commanded the forces on and below the ground respectively.
The merging point of the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector was in the Dark Desolate Domain deep inside the Grand Desolate Plateau. The place was far from the ocean, with a lot of air turbulence. Also, the magnificent crystal warships of the Star Glory Federation were defending the place.
Therefore, as far as Li Yao could recall, he had barely seen any forces of the Gold Crow Kingdom and the Sea Dominator Kingdom before.
In the meantime, on the boundless Grand Desolate Plateau, any large-scale beast tides on the ground would certainly be barraged by the crystal warships the moment they showed up. Therefore, the rendezvous points of the beast tides were almost always below ground. They would gather without anybody knowing first before they suddenly jumped out of the soil and invaded the towns of human beings, raising alley battles so that the weapons of mass destruction such as the main guns of the crystal warships would hesitate.
With such tactics, the underground forces of the demon race, or to wit, the Insect Clan, who were adept at digging holes and fighting below the earth, were of paramount importance.
Therefore, the Nether Spring Kingdom had been the leading vanguard in the invasion of the Star Glory Federation.
The first beast tide that Li Yao encountered on the train to the Grand Desolate War Institution was made of the Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes, which belonged to the Insect Clan, too.
Elder Nether Spring, as the best expert of the Insect Clan and the real controller of the Nether Spring Kingdom, ranked at the top in the List of Deadly Demons of the Star Glory Federation. He was definitely the greatest trouble-maker for the country!
In the ‘Battle of Dawn’ a year ago, the Nether Spring Kingdom and the Kingdom of Lion Butchers summoned an unprecedentedly large army and swept across the entire Grand Desolate Plateau like wild fire. The vanguard of the army even reached the Giant Blade Pass at the south of the Grand Desolate Plateau.
Although they failed to occupy the Giant Blade Pass in the end, a lot of military fortresses and infrastructures of the Star Glory Federation on the Grand Desolate Plateau had been demolished, and the path to march south had been created. According to the intelligence that Li Yao learned through various sources, the Star Glory Federation had been quite in quite a perilous position back then. The major cities and towns inland were all under curfew, and all the reserve soldiers had been summoned.
Right now, Elder Nether Spring, who was the commander behind the curtain during the Battle of Dawn, was acknowledging that he was a pessimist and that he believed in the failure of the demon race and the victory of mankind?
Li Yao did not even know what to say.
Elder Nether Spring sighed and said, “On the surface, the Blood Demon Sector looks more intimidating than the Heaven’s Origin Sector. In the battles right now, we are on the aggressive side, too, and we’ve even marched into the territory of the Star Glory Federation.
“But if you analyze it carefully, you will realize that the Blood Demon Sector is already running out of momentum.
“We are launching serial aggressive attacks because we have to. The technology of the Star Glory Federation is developing too fast. If we don’t maintain tremendous pressure on the Star Glory Federation at all times and consume their resources, it is very likely that they will achieve a technological leap in the next twenty to thirty years. If so, they will be at an overwhelming advantage.
“Hehe. Although we’ve managed to keep the high pressure, the Star Glory Federation still established fifteen crystal suit legions in only ten years. Even at the most dangerous moment in the Battle of Dawn, the forces were never mobilized on a large scale. They are like a scorching saber that is hanging right above our heads!
“But attacks always come at a cost.
“The expeditions deep into the territory of the hostile country will cause three times more casualties and resource consumptions for us.
“Let’s take the Battle of Dawn for example. Naturally, most of the soldiers killed were low-level demon generals. But we lost quite a lot of precious bronze-blood demons and silver-blood demons, too, who were all marvelous warriors that could not be raised to their posts without decades of hard training. The loss of them cannot be made up easily, at least not in the three to five years.
“But the foundation of the Star Glory Federation was not hurt. Some of their buildings were burnt to the ground. Some of their crystals and magical equipment were used up. That was all.
“In the meantime, they learned a lot of lessons during the battle. I could clearly sense that, over the Battle of Dawn that lasted almost an entire year, the federal army improved a lot in regards of distribution of soldiers, tactical responses, and strategical mobilizations.
“In fact, even if the low-level demons did not mutiny, we wouldn’t have been able to persist for long and would have had to retreat immediately. Otherwise, it was very possible that the army of the Star Glory Federation would have blocked our path of retreat and wiped out all our soldiers!
“Do you know why?”
The Fire Ant King held his breath and listened attentively.
“Everything is because of the differences of our systems,” Elder Nether Spring explained carefully. “On the surface, this is a war between the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector.
“However, human beings of the Heaven’s Origin Sector, under the government of the Star Glory Federation, are an integrated whole. All the orders will be obeyed. The army is stable. The people are united. The industrial and training systems are very mature. All the resources can be made use of in the most optimal way.
“On the other hand, the Blood Demon Sector is split into four major demon kingdoms, hundreds of independent demon cities, and countless demon caves. We are just a pile of loose sand. Even though the Pantheon of Demons is trying to stick everything together like a tinker, can we really expect to be as united as human beings?
“This is our unchangeable, fatal shortcoming. Compared to human beings, our appearances are simply too different from each other!
“The Insect Clan, the Feather Clan, the Sea Clan, the Horn Clan, the Claw Clan… Other than the five main clans, there are various kinds of bizarre minority clans. The living environments and the resources that every clan requires are different. Everybody has their own interest and stance. How can their strength be really focused on the same point like human beings?
“I started considering the question when I discovered the secrets of Chaos and learned that I was a chaotic-blood demon decades ago.
“I browsed through all the ancient classics and history books that I could find, hoping to get enlightenment from the wisdom of the past. But after I studied the decline of the Demon Beast Empire and the rise of mankind profoundly, I gradually came up with my own solutions.
“We possess different appearances, and our interests are different. The demon race, which is essentially loose sand, cannot adapt to the modern society of standards, data, and information at all. The rise of human beings is unstoppable.
“It’s better to say that the Demon Beast Empire thirty thousand years collapsed because of the burden of its own weight than to say that the Star Ocean Imperium crushed it.
“The problem remains unresolvable to this day.
“We are a heap of loose sand that pretends to be a rock. How can we win against a real rock?”
The Fire Ant King could not help but observe, “Is this the reason you believe in the failure of the demon race?”
“No.” Elder Nether Spring shook his head and said, “This is not the biggest reason why I believe that the demon race will inevitably fail. Although faced with tremendous difficulties, I believe that, in a war that concerns two vast worlds, a few heroes, or the invention of some new magical equipment or technology, will not be enough to change the outcome of the war.
“Therefore, even though the Star Glory Federation boasts endless potential, we have a good chance to suffocate them while they are still in the cradle and can’t fulfil all their potential.
“However, does any of this mean anything to you?”
The Fire Ant King was dazed. “I don’t understand. Conquering the Star Glory Federation and occupying the Heaven’s Origin Sector is meaningless?”
“In my eyes, yes.” Elder Nether Spring smiled bitterly, with intense desperation on his face. “The Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector are two barren worlds in the remote area of the universe. There are too many worlds of the three thousand Sectors that are far stronger than the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector!
“Ten thousand years ago, the rise of the Star Ocean Imperium was already a death sentence for the demon race. Although the Star Ocean Imperium fell out later, now that humanity is thriving again, there is no chance for the demons to seek a comeback.
“At this moment, most of the three thousand Sectors must be occupied by human beings. Chances are that they have already gathered and established a nation that is a hundred times more powerful than the Star Glory Federation!
“Do you see? The war between the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector is just ‘a storm in the nutshell’ that is not worth mentioning at all if we are to observe it with a larger scale.
“Even if we really conquer the Heaven’s Origin Sector, we are nothing but an indignant, minor kingdom of demons in the eyes of the powerful countries at the center of the cosmos.
“Maybe, a sneeze of those countries will be enough to obliterate every one of us!
“If the war between the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector is all that I cared about, I could still summon my spirits and courage to seek a way to win the war.
“However, now that I am observing the vast universe, despite the pain in my heart, I still believe in my conclusion.
“The course of the universe is unstoppable. Those who follow it, thrive; those who don’t, perish!
“Demons will fail, and human beings will win. This is the course of the universe. Nobody can stop it!”
The Fire Ant King was stunned by Elder Nether Spring’s cold conclusion. He was dazed for a long time before he said, “Even if there are more powerful countries of human beings in the center of the cosmos, it will be hundreds of years before they expand to the edge of the cosmos. By then—”
“You’re wrong.” Elder Nether Spring interrupted him. “They’re already here.”
“What?”
The Fire Ant King’s eyes widened.
“According to the top secret intelligence we received,” Elder Nether Spring said, “the Heaven’s Origin Sector has reached out to another Sector that is completely controlled by human beings. Although the development level of the new Sector is unclear for now, it is obvious that they boast super long-distance teleportation technology.
“It means that we are faced with the threats of two worlds of human beings now. Even if the mysterious new world does not have much advanced technology, a few Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators that they teleport over will be enough to change the outcome of the war!
“Can the Blood Demon Sector defeat two Sectors? Besides, will there be just the two? Maybe more Sectors will gradually find us.”
The Fire Ant King was lost for words.
“Now, do you understand why I didn’t help the Blade of Chaos? It’s because everything you’ve been doing is moot,” Elder Nether Spring said softly.
The Fire Ant King gnashed his teeth. “What exactly do you want to do, brother?”
“I want to find a way out for all the demons,” Elder Nether Spring replied coldly, “be they silver-blood or chaotic-blood.”
Chapter 907: A Third Life Form! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
“Where is the way out, according to you?” the Fire Ant King asked.
Elder Nether Spring smiled confidently and said, “In the legends of the Pantheon of Demons, the demon race is the descendant of the Pangu Clan. According to the believers of Chaos, the demon race was created by Chaos. In the human beings’ narrative, the demon race evolved from the demon beasts that were injected with the ‘Demon God’ virus.
“The three theories are completely different from each other. Which one do you think is the truth?”
The Fire Ant King pondered for a moment and said, “Although I am the leader of the Blade of Chaos, the evidence is so unquestionable that I have to admit that all three theories are incomplete. Maybe a combination of all of them is the truth.”
“Exactly.” Brightness was flashing in Elder Nether Spring’s eyes. “Since exploring the cave in the cave of Chaos decades ago, I’ve been gathering all the files that are related to Chaos just like you. I also excavated dozens of residences of Chaos. During the process, I gradually collected countless pieces of information, and after I assembled the pieces, I finally deduced the truth.
“The theories of the demon race, the Blade of Chaos, and human beings each have their own highlights. But they have their own drawbacks, too, because they all accentuated part of the story for the purpose of propaganda.
“By removing all the exaggerated parts and combining the remaining parts, I reached my conclusion.”
Coldness suddenly blinked in the Fire Ant King’s eyes. “And what is your conclusion, Brother?”
“Firstly,” Elder Nether Spring said, “the Pangu Clan must’ve existed in the primeval era, and they are our ancestors, which can be proved by the countless fossils, relics, and the ‘genetic memories’ when we are training the deeper level of our cells.
“Secondly, there was really a guy named Chaos, who was an expert among human beings forty thousand years ago, at least in the beginning. He was the direct creator of the demon race.
“Thirdly, the theory of human beings has its own merits. The ‘Demon God Virus’ should be a real thing, too. Otherwise, it is inexplicable how the demons occupied the entire sea of stars with a population boom in only hundreds of years.
“Combining the three theories, my conclusion is that—
“During the final years of the era of ancient Cultivators forty thousand years ago, the first civil war of Cultivators was coming to an end. All three thousand Sectors were shattered. Every living creature was in peril. It was almost the end of the universe.
“At that time, a human expert named ‘Chaos’ accidentally retrieved the legacy of the Pangu Clan that was left from the primeval era.
“With the legacy, Chaos produced a virus named ‘Demon God’. But the purpose of such a virus was not to boost the evolution of demon beasts but to trigger the mutations in the bodies of human beings. It awakened the primeval genes that had hibernated for billions of years inside human beings and turned them into demons!
“Although it remains unknown why Chaos did such a thing, this is the deduction that I believe is closest to the truth!”
The deduction cast the Fire Ant King in deep thought. He could not help but nod.
Li Yao, who was eavesdropping below the ground, nodded in agreement, too. Elder Nether Spring’s deduction was indeed more thorough and reasonable than the theories of human beings, demons, or the Blade of Chaos.
If demons were mutations of human beings who had been injected with the Demon God Virus, then all the seemingly uncanny phenomena—for example, the demons’ habit of faking the appearance of humans, their adaptation of the language and social system of humans, and the lack of reproductive isolation between different demon species—would all have plausible explanations.
It was because the demons were merely human beings that walked on a different path of evolution.
The Fire Ant King pondered for a moment and asked, “What does it have to do with your ‘way out’?”
Elder Nether Spring smiled. “If an ancient expert forty thousand years ago could produce the ‘Demon God Virus’ and turn a large batch of human beings into demons, why can’t we do the same forty thousand years later with the advanced biotechnology that we boast?”
The Fire Ant King was startled. “You’re trying to manufacture the ‘Demon God Virus’ and spread it in the Heaven’s Origin Sector so that all the human beings of the Heaven’s Origin Sector will be transformed into demons?”
Li Yao almost could not hold back his exclamations.
If that was on Elder Nether Spring’s mind, he would certain be the greatest menace to the Heaven’s Origin Sector!
But out of his expectation, Elder Nether Spring shook his head again. “No. That’s not what I’m going to do.”
The Fire Ant King found it odd. “Why?”
Elder Nether Spring moved closed to his brother and widened his eyes, staring at the Fire Ant King solemnly. “Brother, I don’t know whether or not you had similar experiences, but during my almost a hundred years of training, I have strongly felt that we are imperfect.
“I’m not referring to the chaotic-blood demons; I’m talking about all demons. We are all imperfect, or rather, seriously flawed.
“It’s true that we can train our cells direction and activate the primeval force deep inside our genes. But such a way of training also results in the unsteadiness of our strength. Our cells are much more likely to collapse, and sometimes, a lot of useless organs or skills will be suddenly endowed to us.
“The longevity of most of the expert demons is shorter than that of Cultivators. Most of the time, they will even turn extremely savage and bloodthirsty, driven by their genes, and they lose the ability to think normally and adopt appropriate tactics.
“Furthermore, our strength is often restricted to a certain domain. General members of the Feather Clan can never utilize the strength and combat patterns of the Insect Clan, and those of the Claw Clan are not able to make use of the experience of the Horn Clan, either.
“In short, we are like ‘tools’ that are built for a certain ‘purpose’. Our path of growth and advancement are locked, and we can know the peak of our training after a quick look.
“Human beings are vastly different from us.
“Although ordinary humans are extremely weak, as soon as their spiritual root is awakened, they are able to use their strength in a much more stable and efficient way, and they boast infinite possibilities!
“Most of the time, I’m even jealous of human beings. The methodology of our training is to awaken the long-forgotten force deep inside our cells, and as powerful as the primeval force is, it has its own limits. Even if we try our best in training, we will only end up being the second Pangu Clan in the end. Is it something that we should be proud of?
“On the other hand, Cultivators of human beings are striding forward and expanding new fields. They have boundless possibilities. Nobody knows what the Cultivators who have reached the peak of Cultivation look like…
“Naturally, human beings have their own drawbacks. The combat ability of the ordinary humans is too low, and the difficulty and price to awaken the spiritual root are too high.
“The demons are much more advantageous in this regard. Most of the demons, especially the bronze-blood and the silver-blood ones, boast tremendous physical strength congenially, and they can wield the strength easily after preliminary training.
“One might say that the demon race has abandoned ‘possibilities in the future’ for ‘formidability at present’.
“The two paths of training have nothing similar. They have obvious advantages and disadvantages, but they are equally imperfect.
“After I made the conclusion, I have been wondering whether or not there is a path that can combine the merits of demons and human beings.
“Imagine it. When a demon awakens the primeval force deep inside their cells, they can form solid shells, thick horns, and sharp claws, some develop three hearts of different usages and five stomachs, and many can survive and fight in extremely harsh environments such as glaciers, ocean bottom, and rock stratum. Now imagine that the demon can drive spiritual energy directly, forming a core or even the Nascent Soul inside their body, how formidable the demon would be!
“A demon that boasts a core and a Nascent Soul!
“No. It is inappropriate to call them a demon anymore. It is a life form that is more advanced than the demon race or mankind. Maybe we should call it the god race!”
Elder Nether Spring was wreathed in the flames of excitement as if he was on drugs and shivered nonstop.
The Fire Ant King looked at him. “I understand it now, Brother. You are trying to modify the Demon God Virus!”
“Exactly!” Elder Nether Spring smiled. “The original Demon God Virus was a product from forty thousand years ago at all. At that time, the technology level of the world of Cultivators was still relatively low. Systematical concepts such as cells, bacteria, and viruses were utterly unheard of back then.
“The so-called ‘Demon God Virus’ is just a name that the latecomers made up. People at that time might’ve regarded as a brand-new poison or venom, didn’t they?
“The original Demon God Virus was not perfect. It is quite weak in the speed of infection and the efficiency of mutation. I don’t think it could’ve spread out if the world was not a mess forty thousand years ago.
“If the virus was faced with the highly-efficient modern government and army, it certainly would have been extinguished before it spreads out!
“Therefore, spraying the original Demon God Virus in the Heaven’s Origin Sector is pointless. Burnt in the fire of unbelievably high temperature, the original Demon Dos Virus will be obliterated. Even if the human beings of an entire city are transformed into demons, the other people can always impose the strictest quarantine on the city and even wipe it out!
“In the meantime, the brand-new virus that I’m developing with the original Demon God Virus as an ingredient will have none of those drawbacks. Its efficiency has been significantly increased, too. More importantly, it does not target human beings alone. Demons will have the privilege to enjoy it, too. It will allow both human beings and demons to evolve into a third life form that is much stronger and totally perfect!
“Hehe. Forty thousand years ago, our ancestors turned from human beings into demons. Today, our civilization will make another giant leap by turning from demons into gods!
“Perhaps, this is the true meaning of ‘Demon God’. This is the real Demon God Virus!”
Li Yao clenched his fists hard, his fingernails almost piercing into his palm. The craziness of Elder Nether Spring’s scheme was far beyond his imagination!
The Fire Ant King’s antennae shook violently for a while. “A third life form that is totally perfect? It’s impossible!”
Elder Nether Spring grinned so hard that his lips almost reached his earlobe. “It’s most certainly possible. In order to realize the perfect life form, I have studied for decades and established countless research centers in secret. The one you discovered in Bone Sand City was merely one of them.
“The merging of the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector provided me with the best opportunity. Every time a beast tide invaded the Heaven’s Origin Sector, I had the chance to run my experiments. In the Battle of Dawn, I got even more abundant experiment subjects and made a significant breakthrough in my research!”
Chapter 908: Unmentioned Issues ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The Fire Ant King immediately understood a lot of things. “No wonder you were so active in organizing the attacks against the Heaven’s Origin Sector and even ordered the army of the Nether Spring Kingdom to march into the Heaven’s Origin Sector when the Gold Crow Kingdom, the Sea Dominator Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Lion Butchers were not prepared. The heavy losses seemed to mean nothing to you at all!
“Turns out that you were not seeking a victory at all but merely capturing human beings and demons for your experiment. The battlefield was also the best lab for you to test your ‘products’, correct?”
“Precisely.” Elder Nether Spring burst into laughter. “The other demon emperors in the Pantheon of Demons thought I was so arrogant that I was confident to blow up the Star Glory Federation with only the forces of the Nether Spring Kingdom. They were all looking forward to enjoying the fruit and simply waited and watched my show.
“But they didn’t know that my head was much clearer than theirs. I knew that we could not defeat the humans in a regular war!
“In the scourges of beast tides during the Battle of Dawn, I tested multiple secret techniques that I got from the legacy of Chaos, and I modified and strengthened them. The improvement is obvious!
“The ‘Nether World Watch’, whose combat ability has been boosted by the demon cores, is just one of my achievements. Stronger forces are still hiding in the darkness right now!”
“Are you not afraid that the resources of the Nether Spring Kingdom will be overly consumed?” the Fire Ant King said coldly.
Elder Nether Spring laughed. “As you said in the beginning, we are both chaotic-blood demons. The secret cannot be kept forever. When the truth is out, will the nobles and generals of the Nether Spring Kingdom listen to my command?
“Since it is destined that I cannot win their support, I might as well regard them all as ‘fertilizers’ that can be used to build up my own forces!”
The Fire Ant King sighed. “That explains a lot. No wonder the officers that belonged to the Nether Spring Kingdom surrendered the leadership of the coalition army of the demon race without much struggling after the Battle of Dawn. I was also told that you made a deal with Jin Tuyi and agreed on his ‘Red Tide Plan’.
“Before, it baffled me why you would compromise all of a sudden.
“Now, I’ve realized it. Both the Battle of Dawn and the Red Tide Plan, and maybe even the coalition army of the demon race, mean little to you. They are just your disguises.”
“Exactly.”
Elder Nether Spring sneered. “Jin Tuyi wants to be the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of the demon race. Then just let him be. He wants to implement the so-called ‘Red Tide Plan’. Let him have it. When his ‘red tide’ floods into the central land of the Star Glory Federation, it will be the time when my real plan is activated!”
The Fire Ant King narrowed his eyes and said, “Brother, why are you telling me everything so frankly?”
“Will you believe me if I say that I want to cooperate with you sincerely?” Elder Nether Spring said softly.
The Fire Ant King was amused. He glanced over his own body and sneered. “Here and now, ‘cooperation’ doesn’t seem to be very convincing for me.”
“It was wrong of me not to have told you everything earlier,” Elder Nether Spring replied calmly, “but I had my own concerns.
“Firstly, at that time, I was carrying out my own secret plans, and I needed a target to shift the Pantheon of Demons’ attention.
“Your Blade of Chaos was the perfect target.
“Therefore, I turned a blind eye to the rise of the Blade of Chaos and even gave you a hand when nobody noticed to help Void Turmoil City and the Blade of Chaos expand rapidly. As I expected, you became a major headache for the Pantheon of Demons in only decades.
“As a result, with the threat of the Blade of Chaos inside the Blood Demon Sector and the coveting of the Star Glory Federation outside, the Pantheon of Demons had no time or resources to investigate me. Also, a lot of my research and operations could be conducted under the pretext of ‘striking the Blade of Chaos and the Star Glory Federation’.
“We must calculate risks before we do anything. If I cooperated with you decades ago, we would have been putting all our eggs in one basket. Should anything have gone wrong, all of our endeavors would’ve been in vain.”
“Is that why you killed my subordinates, beat me heavily, and even crippled me?”
“How can we have a guileless conversation if not so?” Elder Nether Spring said. “I know you too well. Like me, you are ambitious and not willing to be below anybody! You won’t agree to cooperate with me unless you don’t have a second option.
“Moreover, most of your subordinates are not dead. They are merely captives for now.
“If you agree to cooperate with me, I will set them free immediately. When the real Demon God Virus is successfully produced, they can be the first batch to be injected and become the most perfect life form!
“You can have the privilege, too!
“You and I have stayed in the stage of demon emperor for many years. I know that you’ve tried countless kinds of strengthening drugs. Yet, you failed to improve your expertise to any higher level. Are you willing to be restricted to the insignificant demon emperor stage forever? Do you not want to grasp the strength that the Pangu Clan once did in the primeval era or even surpass the Pangu Clan and march into the ultimate level that nobody has ever set foot in?”
The Fire Ant King was breathing heavily, his voice coarse. “What do you want?”
Elder Nether Spring licked his lips and said, “I want the secret techniques through which you developed your demonic plants in Void Turmoil City and your formulas to produce the strengthening drugs.
“I know that the Blade of Chaos has countless secret bureaus and spies in every place of the Blood Demon Sector. Tell of all the information.
“I also know that you had a secret research center outside of Void Turmoil City, which was perhaps your real nest. I want the coordinates of the place and your latest research progress.
“Of course, I will not be taking away your belongings for nothing. You will have my own research products, too. It will do us both good if we exchange the information we know!”
The Fire Ant King stared at Elder Nether Spring for a long time. He shook the chains on his body and said, “My current appearance is not suitable for negotiations.”
“Naturally,” Elder Nether Spring said, “I cannot unlock the venom chains. But you can clear the shackles carved with spiritual stripes yourself.”
While talking, he snapped his fingers, and the tentacles that were brimming with neurons were loosened from the Fire Ant King and retreated to the corners of the prison cell.
The Fire Ant King heaved a long sigh in relief and took off the remaining shackles on this body before he hesitated and said, “Everything you said is too unbelievable. I need to think about it for a while.”
“Of course.” Elder Nether Spring agreed quickly. “I’ll have to spend another few days in the Mausoleum of Chaos until the corpse of Chaos is dug out. I believe that there should be enough time for you to consider everything carefully.
“As long as you are open to cooperate, I’m willing to share all our discoveries on the body of Chaos!
“Haven’t you been craving to find out the reason Chaos created the demon race?”
The Fire Ant King looked at him. “What if I say no after I consider everything carefully?”
Elder Nether Spring smiled. “The elites of the Blade of Chaos you brought with you are among the best experts of the chaotic-blood demons. They will be the perfect test subjects for me.
“You, too. I have never used an experiment subject in the demon emperor stage before.
“I almost can’t wait to find out what a marvelous ‘weapon’ I can make based on such an test subject like you!”
“You are quite straightforward,” the Fire Ant King observed.
“Because there is no need for lies now.”
The tusk cage behind him opened again. Elder Nether Spring bowed with a smile and walked out without looking back.
His lower half body stilled soaked in the acids, the Fire Ant King warmed up his arms and legs that had been paralyzed for a long time, deep in thought.
Li Yao was quite anxious. If the Fire Ant King decided to work with Elder Nether Spring, it would certainly be not good news for the Heaven’s Origin Sector.
But he was more worried that Elder Nether Spring had not really gone away yet. Neltharion kept hidden for more than an hour before it flew to the Fire Ant King’s face carefully.
A cluster of vague demonic energy immediately enveloped Neltharion.
The tentacles of neurons that tied the Fire Ant King up had been loosened, allowing him to move and manipulate his demonic energy more conveniently.
Li Yao hurried to ask, “Do you believe in Elder Nether Spring?”
“He must’ve been speaking the truth. Making up such a quirky lie brings him no benefits.”
The face of the Fire Ant King was solemn, and his eyes were flickering fast. He was obviously improving his computational ability to the peak.
“Are you planning to cooperate with him?” Li Yao was suddenly alarmed.
“Just because he was speaking the truth doesn’t mean he was speaking the whole truth,” the Fire Ant King said calmly. “The most brilliant lie is to make a hundred true statements after swapping the sequences of two of them. The conclusion made might be the opposite of the truth.”
Li Yao was confused. “What do you mean?”
“It’s simple. If Nether Spring really wants to cooperate with me, he does not need to make it so complicated at all. He knows that I am willing to pay everything for the survival of the chaotic-blood demons. Then, why did we have to attack each other?
“As long as he tells me that he has been developing a new Demon God Virus that can significantly enhance the combat ability of the chaotic-blood demons, is there any reason why I wouldn’t cooperate with him?
“He has clarified all the details but did not explain the reason of our conflict in a convincing way.
“Therefore, my conclusion is that he kept several pieces of key information to himself, some facts that I would definitely not cooperate with him if I knew!
“Therefore, he does not mean to cooperate with me at all. He merely wants to get the files of the Blade of Chaos and my research products. That’s all.
“I believe that if I was fooled by him and offered all my secret techniques and files to him for ‘communication’, my subordinates and I would end up being his experiment subjects immediately!”
Li Yao thought quickly and asked, “Therefore, we can still cooperate?”
“Whether or not we can cooperate depends on what you want exactly,” the Fire Ant King said coldly. “If you’ve snuck into the Blood Demon Sector for the purpose of conquering my homeland and smearing the brains of the demons on your tracks and sabers, is there any particular reason why I should cooperate with you? I will still be killed when the army of human beings marches close!
“Also, please cut the crap like you are helping the chaotic-blood demons to fight against the high-level demons due to your sense of justice. The demon race is a whole. If all the high-level demons are butchers, the low-level demons are still meat on the chopper block that is completely at the mercy of you.”
Chapter 909: Weird Bronze Gate! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Li Yao sighed and said, “You won’t believe it even if I say that I have no ill intentions for the Blood Demon Sector. However, since both the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector are capable and boast great potential. The ultimate war between the two Sectors will last decades, and no matter which side wins the war in the end, it will suffer billions of casualties. The surviving civilization will even regress to hundreds of years ago. Do you agree?”
The Fire Ant King thought for a moment and replied, “I do.”
“But an apocalypse is coming within ten years”
The Fire Ant King was shocked. “What!”
“Believe it or not, in ten years at most, or three to five years if it is fast, an apocalypse will fall upon us,” said Li Yao. “The apocalypse will only be a scout. A hundred years later, an apocalypse that is larger in scale and can potentially destroy an entire world will arrive. Or rather, it is already on the trajectory of attack right now, and its target is the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector!
“You want your compatriots, the chaotic-blood demons, to survive. I also want my compatriots, people of the Heaven’s Origin Sector and all human beings, to survive. This is why I am here in the Blood Demon Sector!”
The Fire Ant King was silent for such a long time that Li Yao almost thought that the guy did not believe him at all. Then, he suddenly said, “Tell me more about the apocalypse.”
Li Yao did not reveal his identity, nor did he mention the name of the ‘Imperium of True Human Beings’. However, he compressed the entire story into a few critical, concise points and told them to the Fire Ant King.
The Fire Ant King did not care about the details. Maybe it was because he knew that Li Yao would not answer his questions honestly even if he asked. Instead, he inquired on the technical and crucial issues.
Their communication went on for a whole night. The indifference on the Fire Ant King’s face finally changed.
“If we are to cooperate, I must be freed from the cage at first,” the Fire Ant King said. “But more importantly, we must find out the information that Nether Spring did not tell us. I have a feeling that his plan to create a third perfect life form that is above the demon race and human beings has a certain dangerous air to it. It is certainly not as wonderful as his description.”
Deep inside the underground world, Li Yao pressed his left temple, his crimson left eye shining nonstop.
“Elder Nether Spring will be preparing to excavate the body of Chaos in the coming days. I have a plan.”
…
Three days later, the underground temple of the Mausoleum of Chaos had become vastly different after extensive exploration and excavation.
A few permanent research laboratories and training rooms had been established in a corner of the temple. Elder Nether Spring’s most loyal researchers would stay there and continue their studies of the legacy of Chaos in the future.
A portion of the magical equipment, relics, and research files, on the other hand, had been divided, packed, and delivered to the devilish warship above the Star Swallowing Sea through the soft tubes. They were going to be transported to the more advanced research centers.
The capability of the Nether World Watch was much higher than the elites of the Blade of Chaos. Their efficiency in exploring the underground world was much higher, too. In less than three days, they had completed the preliminary survey of the entire Mausoleum of Chaos.
As they expected, they also discovered the secret chamber deep below the temple and far away from the main body of the mausoleum.
“Master Chu, according to your studies, that will be the place where ‘Chaos’ was buried, right?” Elder Nether Spring asked Chu Zhengqing rather respectfully.
Chu Zhengqing and his daughter Chu Feiyin were two researchers in Elder Nether Spring’s research centers in the first place. They were all pure scholars in the academic world who were dedicated to the exploration of the mysteries of Chaos, and it did not seem to bother them who their employer was. After they were ‘rescued’, they went back to work without any hesitation.
“Yes.”
Chu Zhengqing scanned the detailed picture of the fault that had just been drawn on his retina. Flames seemed to be dripping from his eyes as he mumbled to himself, “According to legend, Chaos suffered heavy wounds during battle and had to hide deep below the ground where there was no sunlight or radiation.
“This secret chamber in the abyss should be the place of his burial!”
“Excellent. Today, let’s go to the origin of the demon race and uncover the truth!” Elder Nether Spring waved his hands. “Despot, Swirl, prepare for the exploration!”
“Understood!”
‘Despot’ and ‘Swirl’, two captains of the Nether World Watch, immediately issued a series of commands to their subordinates.
The exploration team made of professional soldiers was soon gathered, too.
The main force of the exploration team was naturally the soldiers of the Nether World Watch, who had been strengthened by the demon cores. To avoid the possible poison and venom deep inside the Mausoleum of Chaos, they were all wearing fully-enclosed protective suits that were similar to the garments of the elites of the Blade of Chaos but much more advanced. They were also carrying the oxygen cylinders from the Heaven’s Origin Sector that would prevent them from inhaling the dirty air inside the tomb.
Other than that, they were manipulating a large batch of snakes, bugs, rats, mosquitoes, and even some beast puppets from the Heaven’s Origin Sector.
The lifeless beast puppets that were purely made of metals and crystals were naturally the best choices to explore the ancient tomb.
Even so, Elder Nether Spring was still not relieved. He asked Despot and Swirl to pick out thirty captives and force them to walk in front of the soldiers of the Nether World Watch.
It was also one of the reasons Elder Nether Spring had kept so many captives alive.
An hour later, the hundred members of the exploration team entered the center of the third floor of the Mausoleum of Chaos.
The third floor was filled with black rocks that seemed to be able to absorb all light. Even the brightness of the extremely penetrative searchlights and the fireflies was devoured by the wall.
All the members of the exploration team were soaked in a dim fog. They had to keep an eye on their companions all the time, or they might lose their way and fall into the endless darkness.
The center of the darkness was a square that was not large in scale. The ground of the square seemed to have been made by an enormous black rock hundreds of meters in length and width. There was not the tiniest joint on it.
The ground of the square was embedded with a huge, round, bronze gate that was approximately ten meters in diameter, carved with complicated spiritual stripes and patterns. A lot of the pictures were rather eerie and gloomy.
“The pathway leading to the tomb of Chaos should be past the bronze gate. The spiritual stripes on the gate are partly the password to open the gate and partly the rune arrays to prevent the radiation and telepathic thoughts of the outside world from leaking in.”
Chu Zhengqing and his daughter, along with several other experts, crouched before the bronze gate and touched it carefully. A moment later, they duplicated all the pictures on the bronze gate.
The pictures were similar to the wall paintings inside the underground temple. Several of them were telling a whole story.
However, after they analyzed the story, everybody felt creepy.
The first picture carved on the bronze gate was a human being who had stretched out his arms and legs. A drop of a bright golden liquid was about to fall upon his head, and the man opened his mouth wide, apparently trying to swallow the liquid.
Many other individuals who were much smaller were kneeling on the ground around him and worshipping him.
If the place below was indeed Chaos’ tomb, the hero in the pictures carved on the gate of the tomb was doubtlessly ‘Chaos’ himself.
Chu Zhengqing explained to Elder Nether Spring, “The first picture seems to depict Chaos, as a ‘human being’, swallowing a kind of mysterious liquid. It seems to be a very important experiment or ritual.”
In the second picture, there was still a human being whose limbs were all stretched out. But the body of a person had grown vivid feathers, scales, claws, tails, and horns.
Although it was just a stationary embossment, one could not help but feel that countless ferocious beasts were sealed inside the man’s body and would be woken up at any moment.
“After drinking the mysterious liquid, Chaos has grown features of multiple kinds of demons,” Chu Zhengqing said.
In the third, fourth, and fifth pictures, the features of demons became more and more obvious on Chaos. They were more and more disordered, too. He seemed to have become an amalgamation of countless types of animals, raging, roaring, and fighting against endless foes.
What was weirder was that, among his foes, there were both Cultivators in long robes riding their swords and hideously-grimacing demons. One could not tell the stance of ‘Chaos’ at all.
Even more shockingly, in the sixth picture, Chaos, who was now showing the features of hundreds of types of demons, exploded like a balloon that had expanded too much.
As a result, in the seventh picture, Chaos turned into split translucent materials that looked like jellyfish.
Chu Zhengqing and the specialists studied for a long time but could not figure out what it meant. “What’s the meaning of this? Is it indicating that ‘Chaos’ died of mental derangement?”
“We will know the truth as soon as the gate is opened,” Elder Nether Spring said. “How long will it take?”
A short and ugly expert who was adept at traps placed multiple metal balls on various parts of the bronze gate. He picked out tiny bugs from his ears and made them crawl along the edge of the gate. He said in a low voice, “It won’t take long. A very serious accident seems to have taken place in the Mausoleum of Chaos, which killed everybody outside. The gate was sealed in a hurry, too, and is not flawless.
“Such barriers have been found in many tombs over the past forty thousand years. Their structure is not rare. As long as we—”
The specialist seemed to have heard something and tilted his head. The metal balls that were on the bronze gate all rolled rapidly along the bumpy spiritual stripes. They passed by and crashed into each other, turning into streaks of silver brightness. In the end, after a ‘bo’ sound, they melted like ice and turned into mercury-like liquid!
The liquid metal seemed to be alive. It zigzagged and soon filled every gap among the spiritual stripes!
Crack!
Behind the bronze gate, in a place that sounded far, far away, a dull, mechanical noise echoed.
Then, the deafening noises of running gears reverberated. The bronze gate was shivering slightly, and even the figures on the pictures of the gate seemed to be twisting weirdly!
Chapter 910: Mutation Black Gas! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The anomaly of the bronze gate raised the wariness of all the soldiers of the Nether World Watch. Even Elder Nether Spring, one of the best experts of the Blood Demon Sector, was also gazing at the twisted embossments without blinking.
The tombs and relics of ancient experts were the favorites for both Cultivators and demons. If they could find a few legacies inside the bomb, they might be able to make a significant breakthrough in their training. However, such places were mostly full of traps, and the explorers might get killed should they be careless.
However, the studies of the specialists and the prospecting over the last few days had reached the same conclusion—the Mausoleum of Chaos was closed because of an extremely gory accident in which everybody inside the mausoleum was instantly killed.
Maybe, it was because the leakage of a very tough virus that caused the mental derangement and mutation of the researchers, who killed each other until none remained.
Under such circumstances, Chaos died a rather hasty death, and there were not many followers who could finish setting up the traps for him.
It was also one of the reasons why Elder Nether Spring dared explore the place in person.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The sounds of spinning gears and rubbing chains behind the bronze gate sounded closer and closer. At first, they seemed to be from the core of the planet, but right now, they were echoing right inside everybody’s ears, making the explorers feel that it was not just the bronze gate that was being twisted but also their internal organs.
Before the gate was fully opened, some of the relatively weak specialists were already gagging.
Huala!
The next second, the bronze gate suddenly collapsed.
“Aim all the fireflies and searchlights at the bronze gate. Everybody, retreat ten meters!” Elder Nether Spring commanded.
Dozens of searchlights captured and smuggled from the Heaven’s Origin Sector, with crystals as cores and enhanced by hundreds of light-concentrating rune arrays, were aimed at the bronze gate at the same time. In the meantime, countless bugs that were much larger than normal fireflies and had crystals embedded in their heads and bottoms flew to the top of the bronze gate, too.
The radiance generated by them illuminated their surroundings like daylight. Even so, the brightness was still heavily refrained above the bronze gate, as if the black fog that was flowing out of the bronze gate was devouring all of it.
With the help of the light that had been suppressed to the minimum, one could vaguely see that the bronze gate had descended about five meters. Then, it revolved anticlockwise three times and clockwise two and a half times. In the end, after a ‘clang’ sound, the pivot of the gate seemed to have opened, and the bronze gate split apart like a blossoming flower, retreating into the depths of the rocks.
The bronze gate was no more. The pathway below the gate extended deep underground, vertically like a shaft. Naturally, nobody was able to tell what was down there when they were standing aside.
“Hundred Feet, explore the environment!” shrieked Swirl, the butterfly demon.
One of the soldiers of the Nether World Watch immediately walked out of the team. There were barely any features of human beings on his body. He was more like a hybrid of an enormous spider and a centipede. He had two long limbs in front of his body, and more than ten red, complex eyes were grown among the villus and the end of the limbs.
Hundred Feet extended his limbs. They seemed to have been refined by special genes for the purpose of reconnaissance. When his limbs, which were almost three meters long at first, were fully unfolded, they became more than ten meters long. Connected by more than ten joints, he could move his limbs freely in the most complicated tunnels.
Hundred Feet extended his limbs that were brimming with complex eyes into the dark hole on the ground.
Despot and Swirl, the two captains of the Nether World Watch, both placed their hands near the head of ‘Hundred Feet’ and connected to his brain with synthesized neurons, sharing his vision.
“Judging from the soundwave detection in the beginning, the pathway is at least twenty kilometers long, with many footholds on the wall to help everybody go in and out. But the wall of the hole is extremely smooth. It is impossible for ordinary people to go inside without the help of tools.”
“Dark fog is everywhere inside the pathway. Although the complex eyes of ‘Hundred Feet’ have been specially refined and trained, it is impossible to see more than a hundred meters away.”
“Huh. What’s that sound?”
At the end of the pathway, deep down the underground, deafening noises that sounded like a surging hurricane suddenly flooded up like a spring!
“Watch out! Don’t get hurt!”
Swirl tackled Hundred Feet to the ground while a cluster of ball lightning was quickly expanding between the two enormous horns on the head of ‘Despot’.
Almost at the same time, the sound of the hurricane had already reached the entrance of the hole. After a boom, a large cluster of black gas charged out like a volcanic eruption!
“Ahhh!”
The last section of the limbs of Hundred Feet had not been pulled out of the shaft yet, which was hit precisely by the black gas. He screamed miserably, and his complex eyes suddenly bulged like abnormal tumors, only to explode one by one a moment later!
Hundred Feet screamed in the excruciating pain.
Swirl was quick enough to react. She waved her butterfly wings, and a stream of colorful brilliance circled around the swollen limbs of Hundred Feet. The limbs were immediately cut off, but like vipers whose heads had been chopped off, they writhed violently on the ground before they finally melted into a pool of pus!
The black gas soared up and enshrouded most of the fluorescent fireflies. The brightness of half the fireflies immediately died down while they withered and fell into the shaft like hailstones.
In the meantime, the other half of the fireflies were shining even more brightly than before. Amid hissing sounds, their wings and limbs grew crazily, and they significantly expanded in scale, turning from the size of a thumb to the size of almost a palm!
The enlarged florescence fireflies were like flash bombs that had grown wings. They turned extremely brutal, bloodthirsty, and hungry. With earsplitting shrieks, they dashed to the soldiers of the Nether World Watch through various directions!
“The fireflies are out of control!” one of the explorers exclaimed.
Most of the subordinates of Elder Nether Spring belonged to the Insect Clan. As their name suggested, they were all experts in manipulating insects. All the insect-type demon beasts were like arms and fingers under their control.
But right now, the fluorescent fireflies, which were refined with the blood of the soldiers of the Nether World Army and were essentially part of their organs, would not listen to their commands!
At the critical moment, ‘Despot’, the Hercules beetle, bellowed and blew out a ball of lightning between his horns. It was then detonated in the middle of the mutated fluorescent fireflies, turning into an enormous electric web more than ten square meters large. The mysterious blue electric arcs confined all the florescence fireflies inside!
Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi!
Despite the boundary of the intense electric arcs, the florescence fireflies were not killed instantly. They were still struggling hard and almost tore apart the electric web several times.
“Huh?”
Despot’s shell was shaking and producing rattling noises. The demon cores that were embedded into his body were glittering, and the electric arcs that he released turned from deep blue into crimson!
Under the surging crimson electric arcs, most of the florescence fireflies were finally electrocuted into dry corpses and blown into ash, but some ten fireflies that were particularly vigorous were not electrocuted. Instead, they further mutated in the electric arcs, with sharp thorns growing out of their body and their mouthparts expanding into what seemed to be shining caltrops!
“What?”
Despot seemed to feel humiliated. Bloody steam was popping up from his face that was covered in black armor. His arms bashed each other brutally like two rushing crystal trains. The super demon core at the center of his breastplate that looked like a mirror suddenly shinned, changing the electric arcs that he was letting out from crimson into pale white.
Finally, all the mutated fluorescent fireflies were killed.
“Spray the stabilizing drugs, now!” Swirl commanded anxiously.
A few soldiers of the Nether World Watch that were like rice-puddings quickly moved forward.
They were all wearing multiple layers of fully-enclosed protective suits, even including the anti-poison equipment from the Heaven’s Origin Sector. They were also carrying several huge, silver, high-pressure bottles on which a lot of rune arrays were shining brilliantly.
Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu!
Dark green foam spurted out of the high-pressure bottles and formed a solid barrier around the black gas.
The moment the dark green foam touched the black gas, it immediately simmered and enveloped the black gas, neutralizing it and generating a huge amount of harmless, bright green gas that was spreading afar in the room.
“The black gas that sank to the deepest part of the tomb of Chaos seems to have the effect of overly stimulating the activity of cells. Any living creature that touches it will turn extremely crazy, and their vitality will be drained in an instant!
“Thankfully, the structure of the ancient black gas is relatively simple. It can be neutralized by our stabilizing drugs.”
One of the poison specialists was operating a few local artifacts of the Blood Demon Sector and several pieces of air examination magical equipment from the Heaven’s Origin Sector, while he observed quickly, “The black gas has been sealed inside the tomb of Chaos for forty thousand years. During the forty thousand years, because of the tectonic movement, the air pressure inside the tomb changed a lot. That’s why it is spurting out. I estimate that it will all disperse in five minutes.
“However, inside the tomb of Chaos, there might be residue of the black gas. It is suggested that we spray stabilizing drugs into the cave and neutralize the gas before our exploration.”
As he predicted, three minutes later, the black gas was spurting much less forcefully, like a spring that had lost pressure. Five minutes later, there was no more black gas.
Even so, Elder Nether Spring still asked the Nether World Watch to wait half an hour, and he told the specialist to send a piece of air examination magical equipment deep into the shaft with a long, narrow rope.
The rope was ten kilometers long. The result was that no constituents of lethal poisons were detected ten thousand meters into the hole.
Since the tomb had been sealed for forty thousand years, the air was naturally not suitable for breathing. However, since the demons did not have a high demand on the air quality like humans did, and they were all carrying highly-compressed oxygen cylinders, there would not be a problem.
During the half hour while the black gas was being mediated, the Nether World Watch worked on the shaft and established a temporary lift with a solid chain.
However, due to the restriction of the hardness of the material, the chain was only five thousand meters long. If it were any longer, it would collapse because of its own eight.
Many experts of the Nether World Watch could fly and float in midair. Those who could not were mostly able to slither on the wall of the cave like lizards. The lift was mainly prepared to deliver assets.
They planned to establish such a lift every five thousand meters below the shaft. With such a relay system, they would be able to extract all the items of value inside the tomb.
Chapter 911: Inside the Darkness ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum!
Half an hour later, the first batch of scouting insect-type demon beasts were thrown into the shaft. The batch of insect-type demon beasts had been specially refined and all boasted advanced optical and sensory organs. Their complex eyes were glittering in the darkness.
One hundred meters, two hundred meters, three hundred meters…
Manipulated by the experts through their secret arts, the insect-type demon beasts dived deeper and deeper.
However, when they were below five thousand meters, all the insect-type demon beasts lost connection with their masters, who could not sense their existence at all anymore.
The same happened to the second batch of insect-type demon beasts. The demon beasts could have been projected to at least a hundred kilometers away while maintaining a feeble connection with their masters. However, in the weird shaft, the connection was always cut off when they reached no deeper than seven thousand meters. No secret arts that enhanced the connection helped.
The third batch to be tossed in were the beast puppets from the Heaven’s Origin Sector.
But the magical equipment made purely of mechanics, crystals, and rune arrays was the same. All the devices lost connection with their controllers when they were five to six thousand meters below the ground.
“It appears that the last shelter of Chaos was built with special radiation-proof and wave-proof materials. Together with the special rune arrays, all telepathic thoughts and mental connections are blocked, thereby jamming all communication!”
A few traps and architecture specialists studied for a long time after they sent a few pieces of probe magical equipment into the shaft. Finally, they reached such a conclusion.
“You mean that we cannot learn anything that is happening inside the shaft in the ground?” Elder Nether Spring observed calmly. “Then we will have to send someone down for exploration in person.”
Despot, the Hercules beetle, was the first to stand up and requested in a deep voice, “Elder, let me!”
“Your body is too huge. You alone will take up almost half of the room of the shaft. Should there be anything wrong, it will be difficult for you to run away.”
Swirl, the butterfly demon, said casually, “Let me go instead.”
Elder Nether Spring pondered for a moment and said, “Swirl, you will go. There is no telling what kind of dangers are lurking inside the tomb of Chaos. Other traps can be resolved slowly, but mental attacks will be extremely hard to deal with.
“Swirl is an expert in mental warfare. Your flying ability is better than Despot’s, too, and it will be more convenient for you to move inside the narrow shaft.
“Swirl, remember this—”
Elder Nether Spring concentrated his voice into a twisted channel of soundwaves and pushed it to Swirl’s ears. “When you’re down there, other relics and treasures can be excavated slowly. But you will have to find ‘the thing’ as soon as possible.”
“Understood!” Swirl replied respectfully. “But please give me a description of the asset, Elder.”
Elder Nether Spring pondered for a moment and said, “It should be large, complicated information in some form. Perhaps, it will also have an activation switch like a ‘key’. In any case, the date is too enormous to have been loaded onto the ancient jade chips forty thousand years ago.
“Before the mission, I have asked you to study the multiple kinds of magical equipment that the ancient Cultivators utilized to store information. By my estimation, what you should be looking for is a ‘Hidden Star Box’, a ‘Sky Storage Bottle’, or any other ancient magical equipment that has a capacity hundreds of times larger than the jade chip!”
“Understood!”
Swirl and Elder Nether Spring discussed for a while longer and settled the details. They selected thirty soldiers of the Nether World Watch who were slender and adept at flying, and they asked ten captives to walk at the front.
“Aren’t you the most loyal believers of Chaos? At the bottom of the shaft is the tomb of your God Chaos. Chances are that you will see the body of Chaos with your own eyes. What a glory it must be for you!”
Swirl grinned hideously. “If your god is really watching over you and we finish the exploration smoothly, you and your companions will all be spared.
“But if anybody hesitates or defects, hehe, not only will they be executed, we will also pick ten random captives from the remaining prisoners and kill them as sacrifices!
“If you don’t want to get yourself and your companions killed, just prey to your God Chaos quietly and wish that he doesn’t jump out or stir any trouble!”
Huala!
The shackles of ten captives of the Blade of Chaos were all unlocked. They were offered some strengthening drugs to recover their strength, and they were even given a protective suit of the same standard as the soldiers of the Nether World Watch.
It was not because the Nether World Watch cared about their lives. They actually would not mind at all if the captives were killed by poison. However, if the captives became insane monsters with infinite physical strength like the fluorescent fireflies did just now, it would be a major nuisance for them.
The ten captives of the Blade of Chaos looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they had regained their freedom for now, there was no much they could do under the suppression of the Nether World Watch. Besides, a lot of their companions were still locked in the upper level, including their leader, the Fire Ant King. They were not able to resist at all.
God Chaos, please watch over us!
The ten captives of the Blade of Chaos prayed silently. Threatened by the Nether World Watch, they jumped into the shaft one after the other.
The bottomless shaft seemed to lead to the core of the planet. The entire pathway was wreathed in vague black fog, and clusters of black cotton were drifting among them.
A feeble air current was blowing from below, holding them like a pair of invisible giant hands.
Both the captives from the Blade of Chaos and the elites of the Nether World Watch were adept at the swiftness skills. Besides, footholds that they could climb on had been embedded on the smooth wall. Therefore, it was not difficult for them to descend.
Every soldier of the Nether World Watch was surrounded by a lot of communication bugs. However, after they were more than six thousand meters below the ground, the communication bugs lost connection to the surface and could only be used for internal communication.
The deeper they went, the denser the black fog became. In the end, they could barely see their own fingers.
Although they carried a lot of searchlights and fluorescent fireflies with them, the best they could only vaguely see each other’s outlines.
The exploration team went down for more than half an hour inside the shaft before they finally reached the bottom.
Humming sounds were echoing nearby nonstop. The brightness of the searchlights turned dim. When they aimed the searchlights at the source of sound, they found that the scouting insect-type demon beasts that were projected into the shaft earlier were all flying aimlessly like headless chickens.
Seeing the brightness of the search lights, a lot of the insects crashed toward the source of the light crazily, leaving a lot of scattered shadows behind them.
“The electromagnetic field here is extremely chaotic. It is impossible to tell the direction. No wonder all the demon beasts went out of control.”
One of the soldier of the Nether World Watch was carrying a multipurpose compass produced by the Star Glory Federation. The pointer on the gadget was spinning fast like a fan.
“The air quality is acceptable. Although the percentage of oxygen is merely 2.5%, no constituents of fatal poisons have been detected.”
Another soldier of the Nether World Watch was operating a crystal processor skillfully.
Wars were always the best means of communication between two civilizations. After years of battles against the Heaven’s Origin Sector, a lot of magical equipment and technology of the Cultivators had been introduced into the Blood Demon Sector and become quite popular.
“Survey the terrain with the soundwave detectors first and then explore the area anticlockwise. It’s extremely hazy here. Everybody, stick close to each other. Including the captives, have a headcount every five minutes so that nobody drops behind,” Swirl commanded quickly.
There was nothing but darkness around them. The searchlights could only reach ten meters away before their brightness was consumed by the black fog. The fluorescent fireflies went out of control, too, and hovered around their heads without listening to commands.
Their glow fluctuated. Not only was it unhelpful in illuminating the place, it was also adding to the anxious vibe.
Bo! Bo! Bo!
Dull soundwaves echoed more than twenty thousand meters below the surface of the planet. Very soon, the environment nearby was outlined and fed back to the biochemical chips that the explorers wore on their eyeballs.
Judging from the result of the echolocation, they were now in a space about five hundred meters both in length and in width.
Compared with the magnificent and boundless underground temple above, it was simply not large at all.
The space was purely empty. There were no pillars. The only thing that could be seen was a high bump at the center, which looked like an enormous rock, a throne, or a huge coffin.
The entire space was drowned in water that almost reached their knees. There was no telling whether it was the underground water that flowed in through the cracks on the wall or it had remained in this place for forty thousand years.
After forty thousand years of vaporization and brewing, the water had already become liquid that was almost as thick as oil. After every step they made forward, they would drag a few more tiny, greasy threads with them.
However, except for the excessive bacteria inside, the water was not poisonous or corrosive.
“Five captives at the front, and five at the back. Start exploring!”
The exploration team gradually reached the edge of the space and moved anticlockwise. The wall of the area turned out to be enormous black stones that were piled up on which lines of dense characters the size of the head of a fly were engraved.
“What’s this?”
Almost ten searchlights were aimed at the wall at the same time. They found that the wall of black rocks, which was almost fifty meters tall, had been occupied by characters, numbers, and runes the size of millet seeds.
Some of the words were written neatly, but some others were extremely casual and illegible. There were even some words that appeared to be random graffiti. Everybody felt that their head was dizzy after just a quick look.
However, judging from the font and the depth of the words on the rocks, it was doubtless that they had been written by the same individual.
“The content appears to be a certain technique, no, a method to make an unknown poison, no, a flowchart of the production of a certain piece of magical equipment?”
“I got it. It is a combination of many random marvelous skills and arts that are intermittent and messy, with a lot of traces of smearing and editing. It should be… a draft!”
“It seems that the secret chamber was indeed the training room and research room for Chaos, who regarded the wall as his scrap paper when he considered new techniques. Whenever he thought of something new, he would carve his thoughts on the wall!”
“Hurry up and scan on the markings on the wall. Let’s move them back and ask the specialists to analyze them carefully. Hopefully, we will get a few useful techniques!”
A lot of ideas and thoughts were left on the walls all around them. But other than those, there were also a great number of animalistic claw marks that wiped out many words and formulas.
Some of the claw marks were several meters deep into the wall, as if they had been left by an extremely ferocious animal that was on a rampage.
Chapter 912: Don’t Believe Him! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
“It’s rather strange. Since this is the place where Chaos trained himself, and it is apparently heavily guarded, it is impossible that any animal could have broken into the room. Who was it that left the terrifying claw marks exactly?”
The enormous claw marks made the exploration team even more vigilant. It took them more than two hours for them to examine all four walls.
In the meantime, they sent two messengers back to the ground for communication and were reinforced by another ten tough soldiers of the Nether World Watch, who brought even more artifacts, magical equipment, and surveying tools with them.
Then, they marched toward the center of the tomb of Chaos.
Without the wall to guide them, they were caught in a black ocean after only ten meters. Every other direction was covered in the black fog that was not dispersing at all. The only thing that could be seen were the ripples that were spreading out on the water that was up to their knees.
Zi! Zi! Zi! Zi!
All the soldiers of the Nether World Watch activated the demon cores that were embedded in their bodies. Demonic energy, electric arcs, and flames were vaguely flowing inside the demon cores.
“Be careful. We’re only two hundred meters away from the monolithic object at the center. There are no obstructions in front of us. Stay in a line and march forward at the lowest speed. Do not leave anybody behind!”
Swirl was an expert in mental attacks. The powder that was released from her body spread out like colorful airwaves. Everybody felt relatively relaxed.
At that moment…
Huala! Huala!
Weird noises suddenly echoed inside the water!
“There’s something in the water!”
Along with an exclamation, dozens of mysterious, black shadows sprang out of the water and darted toward everybody like bolts of lightning!
They turned out to be the blood-sucking flying swords that Li Yao had met before!
The flying swords seemed to have never sucked any real blood in the past forty thousand years. Their veins were withered, out of shape, and dangled down from the body of the flying swords like dried earthworms.
It was exactly because of their hunger for blood that they were shrieking and attacking so furiously!
“Stop them!”
Swirl snapped her fingers. Dozens of streams of powder spurted out of her fingertips and turned into colorful rainbows in midair. From moving through the air at a high speed, the friction caused them to burst into flames!
The colorful flames interweaved into an impregnable web that went toward the incoming flying swords and trapped them!
The other soldiers of the Nether World Watch all showed their own skills, too. They slightly opened their fully-enclosed protective suits, revealing the demon cores on their bodies.
The demon cores were triggered, forming shields of spiritual energy and long sabers of flames near them. They slashed the blood-sucking flying swords with the hundreds of blade auras!
The blood-sucking flying swords, after forty thousand years of hibernation, were already running low on energy. Under the attack of the soldiers of the Nether World Watch, they all broke apart and fell back to the water helplessly.
Hissing sounds echoed within the water, as if it were boiling.
But one of the captives of the Blade of Chaos left the battle formation in panic and was scratched by one of the broken blood-sucking flying swords. A shallow wound was cut open on his arm.
The blood-sucking flying sword crawled into the body of the captive like a parasite. Very soon, half of the body was already dried up.
However, before the blood-sucking flying sword darted out again, dozens of blade auras had already arrived overwhelmingly, slashing both the captive and the sword into pieces!
“It appears that your God Chaos rather cares about you!” Swirl mocked.
But another abrupt change already took place. In the water near everybody, a few giants that looked like iron towers suddenly sat straight. Under the searchlights, they appeared to be metal puppets that were made of bronze and carved with dense spiritual stripes on their bodies!
The puppet giants had been shattered, their upper halves were separated from their lower halves, and they were soaked deep inside the water. That was why they had not been detected earlier.
Even without their lower halves, they were still more than two meters tall, and their arms were almost ten meters long when stretched out. Countless weapons and pieces of magical equipment were hidden inside their cylindric, black arms.
The puppet giants were driven by the crystals that were embedded to their chests and their joints. They had probably been woken up from the hibernation state because they sensed the scent of living creatures just like the blood-sucking flying sword did.
They were roaring deeply and twisting their rusted joints hard. Opening their coldly blinking hands, they lunged toward the soldiers of the Nether World Watch.
“Don’t panic. Attack their crystals!” Swirl bellowed quickly. The speed of her fingers increased significantly, transforming the powder into dancing butterflies that danced around the puppet giants and eventually stopped on the shining crystals.
The powder butterflies leaked into the crystals immediately. The shining crystals seemed to have been mixed with a lot of impurities and lost their brilliance, turning dirty and obscure.
The broken puppet giants stopped functioning again. The last hollow sigh echoed inside their body that had almost been fully corroded.
The other few puppet giants were cut into pieces by the soldiers of the Nether World Watch, too.
Except for one heavily wounded soldier, most of the teammates were safe and sound.
After examining the multiple kinds of magical equipment hidden in the body of the puppet giants, Swirl concluded, “Those beast puppets do not look like designated guards. They are more like… servants and acolytes of Chaos.”
Most of the magical equipment was not aggressive but designed to dissect, refine, maintain objects, and run experiments.
The episodes did not interrupt their exploration. After a moment of rest, the exploration team continued to move forward while they paid close attention to the water on their way. They did not meet much trouble on the rest of the way. Instead, they collected a lot of debris of jade chips and magical equipment from the water.
Fifteen minutes later, they finally reached the huge ‘coffin’ at the center of the space!
Both the soldiers of the Nether World Watch and the captives of the Blade of Chaos held their breath and aimed their searchlights at the object.
Outside their expectations, what appeared in front of them was not a splendid throne, not a creepy coffin, but a facility that look like a ‘pool’.
The ‘pool’ was made of the purest and most flawless crystals. It was about three meters above the ground and almost ten meters in length and width. Dense, elegant spiritual stripes had been carved on the object, forming what appeared to be an extremely complicated rune array whose purpose nobody was aware of.
Above the ‘pool’, there was a cover that was made of the same material. It was connected to the ‘pool’ with tracks so that the ‘pool’ could be closed with the minimal strength.
After it was closed, the pool and the cover were fully integrated without the tiniest gap.
Around the crystal pool were a lot of huge tanks, some of which were directly linked to the crystal pool while some others were docked to the crystal pool through soft tubes.
After such a long time, the soft tubes made of the stomachs of demon beasts had all decayed.
At first glance, the crystal pool was very similar to the biochemical culture slots that were popular among the demons. But it was purely empty. Except for the transparent liquids, there was absolutely nothing, not even any bones, much less the intact body of Chaos.
“This is rather uncanny. All the evidence suggests that this is the place of Chaos’ death. Why are there no bones at all?” Swirl frowned. “Where will the ‘thing’ that Elder demanded be put if the body does not exist?”
Right then, illuminated by one of the searchlights, Swirl discovered something resembling an agate glimmering inside the crystal pool.
“What is that?”
Swirl was interested and moved closer, observing the item against the edge of the pool.
Right then, a miserable scream echoed behind Swirl. A captive of the Blade of Chaos seemed to have been possessed by a devil, and his wrists and ankles twisted unnaturally as he suddenly jerked up!
…
Out of the bronze gate, Despot had been pacing back and forth anxiously for several hours.
“There’s no need to be nervous, Despot. I’ve asked Swirl to send a messenger back every ten minutes. Everything was still on track ten minutes ago.”
Elder Nether Spring was rather at ease. He was even in the mood of a cup of good tea while he sat and talked with Chu Zhengqing, the specialist of the studies of Chaos.
Right then, a weird shriek suddenly echoed deep below the ground!
The shriek made the color drain from everyone’s face. Despot almost could not wait to jump into the shaft now.
“Wait!” Elder Nether Spring shouted to stop him. “The situation is still unclear. Don’t go inside recklessly!”
Very soon, the weird shriek was clearer and more disordered, like the jibber-jabber of someone crazy who had been scared witless.
A shadow gradually appeared from the shaft.
The horns on Despot’s head were surrounded by dazzling electric arcs again, which spread down along the wall of the shaft.
More than ten searchlights that had been deployed above the shaft were all turned on and shot their brightness downwards, illuminating a shadow who was soaked in blood.
“It’s a captive!”
Despot gritted his teeth, his face extremely ugly.
The protective suit of the captive had been ripped into shreds, and there were wounds all over his body. His entire left arm had been torn away. There was no telling what strength supported him to flee to the ground!
As if being chased by a monster from his worst nightmare, he quickly ran up the wall of the shaft and soon dashed out of the hole, covered in a dense bloody aura. He then fell to the ground, his blood splashing to everywhere!
“Sterilization! Isolation!”
Elder Nether Spring quickly moved backwards.
Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu!
The deep green foam and the stabilizing drugs fully wreathed the captive of the Blade of Chaos who had lost his arm. But inside the foam, the captive was still letting out the most appalled cries.
“Dead! All dead! They’re all dead!”
Despot could not have been more anxious. He stepped forward and shouted loudly, “What exactly happened down there? Speak now!”
“Don’t! Don’t come close!”
The captive of the Blade of Chaos seemed to have lost his mind because of the horror and even failed to recognize Despot and Elder Nether Spring. He wriggled on the ground with foam all over his body and tried to flee outwards, leaving a long trace of blood on the ground.
“Elder, it seems that something bad has happened down there. Let me take a team and check out!”
Despot’s eyes were red in anxiety, and he was breathing heavily.
Elder Nether Spring, on the other hand, sensed that something was wrong. He narrowed his eyes and mumbled, “Wait a moment. Something is not right.”
Right then, a few communication bugs that were hovering above the shaft suddenly vibrated their wings crazily, sending out an earsplitting warning from the depths of the shaft.
“Don’t believe him!”
Chapter 913: The Secret Treasure Is Now Mine! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The shriek was like a signal to detonate a bomb. Some of the soldiers of the Nether World Watch could tell that it was uttered by Swirl, their captain. They had never heard Swirl speak in such a hasty, distressed, and desperate way before!
Before they realized what was going on, the stabilizing foam on the body of the captive of the Blade of Chaos suddenly exploded, and demonic energy so intense that it appeared almost tangible swept over the hundred square meters around him like blade auras!
All the soldiers of the Nether World Watch could not help but narrow their eyes, as if sharp sabers were slashing right at their faces!
Such a powerful outburst of demonic energy was only indicative of one thing—the mitochondria deep inside the guy’s cells were outputting energy crazily like a volcanic eruption!
In that moment, only Elder Nether Spring, Despot, and few top experts were able to react.
However, because of the tricky movement of the captive of the Blade of Chaos earlier, Elder Nether Spring was blocked by the enormous body of Despot.
Including Elder Nether Spring, none of the top experts were able to launch an attack past Despot.
Hooo!
Despot was one of the toughest experts of the Nether World Watch aside from Elder Nether Spring, and his power was almost equal to a demon emperor. His reactions were not slow. The balls of lightning between his spear-like horns burst out again. Dozens of electric arcs slapped toward the body of the captive of the Blade of Chaos, and a few landed just in front of the guy.
If the enemy had been fleeing ahead, he would certainly have been hit precisely by the electric arcs. Even if he could resist the bombardment of dozens of electric arcs, he would inevitably have been slowed down.
It was enough for Elder Nether Spring to catch up with him!
But out of Despot’s expectation, the enemy did not lunge forward after his outburst of demonic energy. Instead, like a scorpion that was tossed into a tank of boiling oil, he jerked backwards weirdly and jumped into Despot’s arms!
The enemy’s action was far beyond Despot’s expectations. All the electric arcs missed their target!
The captive of the Blade of Chaos was levels faster than Despot. His legs hit the demon core on Despot’s chest like the main gun of a crystal warship, and his strength flooded into the demon core crazily!
BOOM!
Endless spiritual energy was contained inside the demon core. Stimulated by the invading force, it was like a spring that was compressed to the minimum and naturally gave out a strong counterforce.
But the enemy was extremely deft. When the counterforce of the demon core reached its highest point, he made use of the counterforce and leapt up. Boosted by the combination of the two forces, he rushed forward like a cannon ball, breaking the sonic barrier immediately and turning into a bloody streak of brightness!
Starting from the shriek down the shaft, to the outburst of the enemy’s demonic energy, to the bombardment of Despot’s electric arcs, to the enemy moving backwards instead of forward and eventually dashing out with the counterforce of the demonic core on Despot’s chest, it had all happened in less than half a second!
Despot’s enormous body that looked like a heavy crystal tank, and on the other hand, like a kite whose string had been cut. He was kicked away by the enemy easily, right toward Elder Nether Spring.
Elder Nether Spring moved. He grabbed one of the horns on Despot’s head with only three of his fingers, holding him and balancing him again.
However, Elder Nether Spring’s attack had been disrupted, and the best moment to stop the enemy had passed.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
In the darkness, four emotionless ‘Elder Nether Springs’ crawled out and stood in the way of the enemy’s escape.
They were all clones that Elder Nether Spring had condensed with the mirage green ants and had been lurking in the darkness earlier.
But the enemy seemed to be quite familiar with Elder Nether Spring’s combat style. The red streak zigzagged rapidly, leaving two of the clones behind without being touched by them at all.
In the meantime, the other two clones were blown to smithereens by the ivory beams of light that were shot out of his palms!
The streak of redness vanished into the darkness!
Elder Nether Spring’s face suddenly turned extremely ugly. It was so green that liquid might have dripped down at any moment. He turned into a streak of greenness and chased after the enemy!
He waved his hands. The other few clones that were condensed by the mirage green ants merged together and returned to the bronze gate, staring at the entrance of hole coldly.
Very soon, Swirl struggled to fly out.
Her wretched appearance greatly surprised both Despot and Elder Nether Spring.
The butterfly demon was no longer as exotic and enchanting as she used to. Her colorful wings had been shattered, and barely any part of her skin was still intact. A shockingly large hole could be found on her left abdomen, through which her poor internal organs were all exposed to the air.
Judging from the appearance of the wound, she had been ambushed by someone from behind!
Swirl’s face was so swollen that it looked like a pickled pig’s head and could not have been uglier. With the most desperate expression, she cried, “Elder, forgive my incompetence…”
“Cut the crap!” Elder Nether Spring’s clone gnashed his teeth. “What happened?”
“One of the captives of the Blade of Chaos pretended that he was bewildered by the traps deep inside the tomb of Chaos and acted crazily. I went close to him to check and was ambushed in my carelessness!”
Swirl had not entirely recovered from her shock. “No. He couldn’t have been one of the captives that we locked up. He must’ve mixed in with them later. His capability was very high, and he was practically immune to my mental attacks!”
“Of course, his capability is very high!” The face of Elder Nether Spring’s clone was getting darker and darker. “Even Despot was no match for him and was directly kicked away. The guy must be at least in the level of demon emperor!
“I didn’t know that there was a second demon emperor hiding in the Blade of Chaos apart from the Fire Ant King!
“That’s not right!” The nose of Elder Nether Spring’s clone flapped, as if he had smelt something weird in the air. “The guy destroyed my clones with techniques similar to the ‘Cell Obliteration Cannon’. But it was extremely powerful, which reminds me of…
“The expert that was with Jin Xinyue!”
The pupils of Elder Nether Spring’s clone suddenly shrank. “The expert who was with Jin Xinyue performed the same move when they were getting rid of the pursuers inside the Hundred Desolation Mountain!
“How on earth did he end up in this place?”
“Elder…” Swirl struggled to move her body and whispered to her master, “The guy… the guy also stole something from the center of the tomb.”
“Huh?” The face of Elder Nether Spring’s clone lost color again. “What was it?”
“It was a piece of ancient magical equipment that looked like a ‘Hidden Star Box’, which was likely the ‘thing’ that you asked me to retrieve, Elder,” Swirl replied dutifully. “The guy hid among the captives and did not go on a rampage until the Hidden Star Box was discovered. It seems that his purpose was exactly the item.”
Elder Nether Spring’s clone took a deep breath with a gloomy face. A moment later, his fury that had nowhere to be vented finally burst out. After a boom, the thousands of mirage green ants that formed his clone exploded into a blowing storm, turning into what seemed to be a tall shadow and roaring toward the sky in outrage.
Deep inside the underground temple, Elder Nether Spring’s true self further accelerated and was closer and closer to the streak of redness in the front!
The pathway was long and narrow and did not have a turn or anywhere to hide in. It was pure speed that both of them were counting on.
In three seconds, the enemy would enter Elder Nether Spring’s attack range. Elder Nether Spring’s sharp eyes had already ripped him apart twenty times.
Right then, an abrupt change took place.
BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Around the pathway, dozens of crystal bombs, acid bombs, and venom bombs were detonated at the same time. The spiritual energy, venomous stings, and acids were mixed together and filled up the entire narrow space like a raging wind!
Elder Nether Spring roared, not caring about the minor explosion at all. A shield of demonic energy was formed around his body. All the attacks, be they acid, venom, or the shrapnel of magical equipment, seemed to be stuck by thick glue when they hit the shield and could not touch his body at all.
However, the serial bomb had been planned very neatly. Perhaps, the rock stratums above had already been contaminated by the acids. After the explosion, billions of tons of rocks fell and blocked the pathway without the tiniest gap!
“Explode now!”
Elder Nether Spring burst into fury. He opened his mouth wider than one would have thought possible. A stream of intense brightness spurted out and blew out a giant hole almost ten meters deep in the rocks and soil!
However, the rocks were already feeble after the intense explosion just now. The moment he made a huge hole, the rocks above continued falling down and refilled the hole that he had just created. Elder Nether Spring was so angry that he was jumping up and down!
The enemy had obviously surveyed the terrain earlier and deployed traps for his escape in the pathway. Mighty as Elder Nether Spring was, it would take him at least half a minute to break through the blocked pathway!
Besides, Elder Nether Spring did not know whether or not more bombs had been planted in the pathway, or if the enemy was waiting for him inside the darkness on the other side of the landslide.
He recalled the enemy’s unstoppable kick a moment ago, which suggested that the enemy was at least as strong as the Fire Ant King.
Elder Nether Spring would rather not fight against such a terrifying enemy in an environment that was in the enemy’s favor.
After only a moment of hesitation inside the darkness, miserable screams were already echoing from the communication bugs that Elder Nether Spring had brought with him.
They were from the guardians who were defending the research rooms on the second floor and the temple on the first floor!
Judging from the sound, a ferocious beast seemed to be marching toward the surface while crushing everything that was standing in his way!
“Stop him! Stop him!”
Elder Nether Spring’s handsome face had entirely twisted.
…
The guy who snuck into the captives and stole the ultimate treasure inside the tomb was naturally Li Yao.
In retrospect, it was already perilous enough to sneak into the prison where the captives were locked, and it was even more dangerous to enter the tomb of Chaos right under Elder Nether Spring’s nose. If Elder Nether Spring had sensed something wrong and attacked him with his subordinates, Li Yao was certain that he would have kicked the bucket.
However, Li Yao believed in his judgement. Elder Nether Spring, who had taken over the Mausoleum of Chaos, must have concentrated all his attention on the secrets of Chaos. Even if he could spare some of his attention, he must have been considering how to better exploit the Fire Ant King.
It would never have occurred to him that a bold, insane expert in the demon emperor level would dare to show up near him!
At this moment, Li Yao broke out of the siege and reappeared in the underground temple.
The top elites of the Nether World Watch were on the third floor.
It would take them less than twenty seconds to catch up with him!
Chapter 914: Turbulences Above the Death Desert ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Twenty seconds was enough for an expert of the demon emperor stage to do a lot of things!
“Get out of my way or die!”
After the Blood Stripe Virus melded with part of his self-consciousness and turned into the mental devil, his combat style had become more and more radical, cruel, and brutal.
Above the underground temple, the streak of redness suddenly split into dozens of quickly flashing threads that rushed at the soldiers of the Nether World Watch in all the directions, piercing the chests of almost ten of them. The red threads then congregated again and moved upwards!
In order to move more relics out of the Mausoleum of Chaos, the holes in the dome of the underground temple had been expanded to dozens of meters in diameter. Li Yao soared up in one of the channels!
“Hooo!”
Ahead of Li Yao, an ugly sandworm opened its bloody mouthpart, from which extremely corrosive saliva was drooping nonstop.
“Cell Obliteration Cannon, attack!”
Inside Li Yao’s left arm, countless cells rubbed against each other and surged out. After they perished, the energy that their combustion produced concentrated on the palm and suddenly shot out, stabbing through the sandworm directly.
After a series of explosions, the internal organs of the sandworm were demolished, and the only thing left was an empty shell!
Li Yao flew up to the ground through the body of the sandworm!
Technically speaking, it was not the ground that Li Yao had reached but the bottom of the Star Swallowing Sea. Above him was a crystal barrier that had been established to resist the lake water temporarily.
At this moment, it was the darkest moment of the night when the water level of the Star Swallow Sea was highest. Everybody was soaked in the lake water that was hundreds of meters deep.
The message that somebody was on the run had already been sent to this place. An overwhelming cacophony echoed everywhere, and countless soldiers of the Nether World Watch charged toward Li Yao.
In Li Yao’s eyes, they all turned into clusters of the most fundamental data. Fully carrying out the tactical manipulation abilities that he had trained himself with on the Skeleton Island for more than a month, Li Yao examined his every movement and attack at least a hundred times inside his brain to make sure that his actions could disrupt the battle formation of the enemy to the highest degree and tear a fatal gap on it. Then—
He continued to flee crazily!
For the Nether World Watch, the ‘unpredictable’ enemy gave them quite a hard time. Except for the few soldiers who had head-on clashes with him, the rest of the Nether World Watch all discovered that their remote attacks had been blocked by their companions.
When they decided to draw close for melee combat, they were often pushed or hindered by their companions who were thinking the same. As the battle went on, everybody turned out to be pushing each other on the enemy’s left side, and there were absolutely no soldiers on his right side!
Li Yao smiled and launched dozens of interference bombs that contained flares and stun rune arrays. Before the acid stings and the storms hit him, he roared and soared toward the top of the crystal dome.
He opened his left hand. A cluster of brilliance quickly expanded inside his palm as if he were holding a sun brutally!
“Not good!”
The soldiers of the Nether World Watch who realized what he was going to do were all appalled, their hearts nearly jumping out of their chests.
They intended to stop him, but there was no time!
BOOM!
The mini sun inside Li Yao’s palm suddenly exploded into almost twenty streaks of golden brightness that darted every part of the crystal dome.
Such crystal barriers that were designed to resist water in underwater projects were in the shape of an arc and boasted impressive anti-pressure capabilities. They could resist the enormous external pressure.
But as for the internal pressure resulting from the explosion, there was not much they could do.
After a few cracking noises, almost twenty giant holes immediately appeared in the crystal dome. Boosted by the super-high pressure, the water of the Star Swallowing Sea turned into dragons and rushed in ferociously!
Li Yao gritted his teeth, the veins on his arms and his legs all bulging out, while he forced himself out of the crystal dome against the blast of one of the dragons, dashing into the Star Swallowing Sea!
Hu!
He pressed his chest softly. An enormous airbag immediately ejected out of his back, giving him a strong buoyancy inside the Star Swallowing Sea whose water was extremely dense.
“Little Black, come on out!”
Inside the Star Swallowing Ocean that was full of heavy metals, Li Yao was not worried that the traces of spiritual waves would be found. Even if the traces were really detected, it was not unusual for demons to make use of magical equipment.
Black Wing leapt out of his Cosmos Ring. Like a puppy that had been confined at home for too long, it was shrieking both in delight and discontent. After circling Li Yao three times, it opened black wings of spiritual energy inside the lake water.
Powerful ripples spread out in the lake, as if Black Wing had been expanded to hundreds of meters long.
Li Yao seemed to be back to ten years ago. Grabbing the handle of Black Wing, he blew a whistle and rushed inside the dark lake!
Elder Nether Spring was only twenty seconds late.
But in those twenty seconds, the space inside the crystal barrier had flooded.
There were still a lot of important relics inside the Mausoleum of Chaos. Naturally, Elder Nether Spring could not allow it to be consumed by the Star Swallowing Sea.
Helplessly, he could only command the Nether World Watch to repair the crystal barrier immediately, and he asked one of the devilish warships that were docked above the Star Swallowing Ocean to rise and monitor a larger range.
Twenty minutes later, an anomaly was detected. A vague shadow fled from the southwest side of the Star Swallowing Sea and rushed westward.
“Despot, gather the elites. We’ll chase after him!”
Elder Nether Spring’s voice sounded like a saber that was rubbing a bone. Everybody who heard it felt chilly.
Swirl, who was heavily wounded, struggled to say, “The southwest of the White Silver Death Desert is a turbulent area that is frequented by violent winds. All the sand will be blown into the sky and forms terrifying sandstorms!”
“There’s no time to bother that. The item is of paramount importance for our plan, and we must capture the mysterious expert, too!” Elder Nether Spring replied with a gloomy face.
Fifteen minutes later, the exploration team made of two devilish warships marched to the southwest of the White Silver Death Desert.
“If the target is running at full speed, he will certain trigger intense demonic energy and leave a clear trace. If he does not want to leave any trace, his speed won’t be too high!”
“Chase him. Chase him now!”
The speed and efficiency of the devilish warships were far higher than those of living creatures. With the advanced demonic artifacts and the ‘demonic energy detector’ from the Star Glory Federation on the warships, Elder Nether Spring soon located a clear trace of demonic energy that extended to the southwest.
“It is the ocean at the end of the southwest direction. We will not be able to capture him if he flees into the ocean!’
Elder Nether Spring frowned. Both devilish warships were triggered to the highest efficiency. The engine compartments in the rear were all expanding, spurting such high-pressure air currents that almost set the sky on fire!
Inside the White Silver Death Desert, there was nothing but monotonous, desolate sand. Every place was shining in silver colors, leaving no shelters for anybody. However, after three hours of pursuing, the environment nearby changed abruptly. The desert seemed to have become an ocean with surging tides and earsplitting roars!
It was the turbulent area!
Inside the White Silver Death Desert, without the blockage of mountains and canyons, the strong winds from the ocean were able to march into the land unstoppably. Blowing away sand and dust that could be billions of tons of weight, the wind generated an ocean inside the desert!
“Our devilish warship can resist a level-thirteen gale. Go over now!” Elder Nether Spring commanded unhesitatingly.
Hum! Hum!
On the surface of the two devilish warships, the gray protective membranes that looked like bone armor were torn apart, revealing enormous organs made of countless demon cores that looked like eyes.
Translucent demonic energy spurted out of the artificial organs and formed a solid barrier of demonic energy outside the warships!
The devilish warships barged into the turbulent area. The sandstorm hit the warships one wave after another, causing no consequences at all except for the flashing of the ‘eyes’ on the warships and the slight shaking.
However—
After the two devilish warships both went deep into the turbulent area, dozens of explosions suddenly echoed on the ground.
Almost a hundred crystal bombs were shot into the sky, blossoming like the most brilliant fireworks.
The crystal bombs were still very far away from the devilish warships and could deal no damage to them whatsoever.
But Elder Nether Spring frowned deeply.
Every action of the mysterious enemy had been beyond his expectations since the beginning. It was unlikely that the guy would perform meaningless attacks. What could the crystal bombs do even if they were detonated right below the devilish warships, considering their insignificant damage?
Why was he doing that?
Right at that moment, the devilish warships began shaking more forcefully, and the intensity of the sandstorm outside significantly increased. Everybody on board could hear the roaring gust despite the thick shell of the warships.
“What happened? The force of the wind has suddenly soared. The spiritual energy of the wind class is in disorder!”
“Not good!
“The crystal bombs that the enemy launched were not damaging at all; they carried a lot of rune arrays that could boost the spiritual energy of the wind class!
“As long as the direction and pressure of the wind are calculated well, dozens of crystal bombs that can boost the force of the wind are enough to focus the force of the sandstorm in the same location and create an extremely terrifying zone of furious wind!”
“How is it possible? Even the Feather Clan that is born in the wind and naturally adaptive to the spiritual energy of the wind class cannot grasp the pulse of the sandstorm so well!
“How did the monster do it?”
“Get out of the place now!” Along with Elder Nether Spring’s roar, the devilish warship seemed to have been smashed hard by a giant, invisible hammer, and the bridge leaned to the left side seriously.
Quite a few crew members were knocked away and crashed into their companions. The bridge was in a mess.
Three hundred meters in front of him, more than ten tornadoes were getting thicker and larger after absorbing more and more sand from the desert. The color of the tornadoes gradually darkened into a dreadful deep black, too.
The tornadoes were eyeing them maliciously like giant serpents that could swallow the sky and the earth. The earsplitting noises made the solid shell of the warships as thin as the wing of a cicada.
BOOM!
The main gun of the devilish warships opened fire, blowing the head of one of the ‘serpents’ into pieces. But the remaining body was soon torn apart and swallowed by the rest of the ‘serpents’, making them even thicker and more hideous than before.
In the meantime, on the flanks of and behind the devilish warships, more tornadoes that looked like giant snakes were gradually taking shape!
Chapter 915: Origins of Demons! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Three hours later, the two devilish warships that were stalled for a long time in the super sandstorms finally staggered to a stop in the sky of the southwest coastline of the White Silver Continent.
Because of the hinderance of the sandstorm, it had taken them one and a half hours longer than expected. They lost the traces of the target multiple times on the way, too, and did not lock onto him again until twenty minutes ago.
On the demonic energy detector, a streak of brightness extended into the ocean and vanished in the depths of the surging seawater.
Judging from the dispersion of the demonic energy, the target must have dashed into the ocean half an hour ago.
It was an extremely tricky moment.
If the target had no backup and was swimming on his own, he would not have gone too far in only half an hour. They might have had a chance to catch up with him if they searched the area carefully.
However, judging from the delicate traps that the target had placed on the way, it was hard to believe that he had not prepared a few pieces of magical equipment that could make him move in the seawater fast.
Elder Nether Spring, Despot, and the experts of the Nether World Watch all stared at the boundless ocean, deep in thought.
Although they had suffered a number of setbacks on their way, the anger on Elder Nether Spring’s face had entirely disappeared. It was now utterly tranquil, without the slightest hint of emotion.
Elder Nether Spring suddenly raised his voice. “Go back now.”
“What?” Despot was stunned. “Are we letting go of the target just like this?”
“With the cunningness of the target, he must’ve prepared more traps at the bottom of the ocean, in which case, we will never be able to catch him,” Elder Nether Spring explained quickly. “But I’m more concerned that the target is actually distracting our attention!
“Right now, most of the elites of the Nether World Watch have been brought out by us. The only expert left in the Mausoleum of Chaos is Swirl, who has been heavily wounded!
“What if the purpose of the target was not to run away but to distract our attention and rescue the Fire Ant King when we were out?”
Despot gasped, his solid shells shivering slightly.
“If that is the case, we still have an opportunity to capture him!”
Elder Nether Spring grinned so hideously that somebody might have stamped on his face!
…
In the north of the White Silver Death Desert, thousands of kilometers away from the turbulent area and the Mausoleum of Chaos, a black shadow rushed while sticking close to the desert, drawing a huge arc and moving closer and closer to the Mausoleum of Chaos.
It was exactly Li Yao.
If his purpose was to run away, he would not have been so troubled.
His plan was exactly as Elder Nether Spring had guessed. He hoped to direct Elder Nether Spring and the elites of the Nether World watch to the west coast of the White Silver Death Desert with himself as the bait. It would have been even better if they had been tricked into searching for him offshore.
As long as they were postponed for half a day, it would be enough for him to return to the Mausoleum of Chaos and rescue the Fire Ant King!
With any luck, they would even be able to capture a devilish warship and free a large batch of captives before they figured out what to do next.
However—
Li Yao’s rapid movement came to an abrupt half when something in his pocket shivered slightly.
On one of his knees, he took off his glasses and spat out a mouthful of sand. He took out a metal chip that was carved with stripes resembling clouds from his pocket.
Right now, the metal chip was shaking feebly, driven by rune arrays.
Have I been seen through?
It was a surveillance device that Li Yao had arranged earlier.
When he was fleeing to the west coast of the White Silver Death Desert, he had sprayed almost a hundred pieces of magical equipment that could sense demonic energy into the desert. The silver magical equipment was the size of a pebble and utterly indistinguishable in the silver desert.
The magical equipment, like the crystal bombs, had been thrown together him with the materials inside his Cosmos Ring and from the Mausoleum of Chaos over the last three days. The usage of the magical equipment was simple. As long as it detected immense demonic energy passing by, it would release an extremely feeble spiritual wave so that the reception rune array inside his pocket would shake.
In the boundless White Silver Death Desert where there were no obstacles, the distance of transmission could be thousands of kilometers.
The reception rune array shook for the first time half a day ago, when Elder Nether Spring was coming after him.
But right now, the reception rune array was shaking again, indicating that another wave of immense demonic energy was flying past the magical equipment.
The elites of Elder Nether Spring had been mobilized. It was impossible that a second echelon of reinforcements had been sent.
The only possibility was that Elder Nether Spring had sensed that something was wrong and returned to defend his base.
What a tricky opponent!
Li Yao slightly frowned. He opened his hands, releasing hundreds of streaks of spiritual gas while he ran calculations with the desert as his paper.
The result of the series of complicated computations was that, even if he rushed at the highest speed, there was only a 7.1% likelihood that he could rescue the Fire Ant King before Elder Nether Spring returned to the Mausoleum of Chaos.
The last thing Li Yao wanted to be faced with right now was an infuriated Elder Nether Spring and hundreds of elites of the Nether World Watch.
It’s a pity that Elder Nether Spring has seen through me. Thankfully, however, my effort was not in vain.
Li Yao smiled and licked his dried lips. He retrieved the ancient magical equipment that he had stolen from the tomb of Chaos half a day ago from his Cosmos Ring and played with it.
The ancient magical equipment looked like a brain that was made of agate and bloody diamond. But it was only the size of an apple and could be held with one hand perfectly.
Li Yao had seen similar magical equipment in Ou Yezi’s memory pieces.
Such magical equipment named ‘Hidden Star Box’ could be called an upgraded version of jade chips. It could store a lot of information, telepathic thoughts, and even vivid illusions.
Many ancient sages had been fond of pouring their lifelong knowledge and their most intense feeling into magical equipment like the Hidden Star Box as a legacy for the posterity before their death.
It was some sort of special ‘last will’.
Li Yao was almost certain that it was the ‘last will’ of Chaos when he discovered the item in the crystal pool at the center of the tomb of Chaos. Also, at that time, he noticed that the heart of Swirl had been beating fast, her breath hastier, and her blood flow had been 11% faster than a minute earlier. He had immediately realized that the item must be Elder Nether Spring’s real target.
Therefore, Li Yao had taken actions brutally and ambushed her, stealing the ‘last will’ of Chaos.
Based on Elder Nether Spring’s moves and his talk, this is very likely the ultimate purpose of his operation here!
What kind of secrets are hidden in the ‘last will’ of Chaos?
Maybe I will only be able to make out what Elder Nether Spring is up to exactly after I crack the secrets inside the ‘last will’!
Li Yao took a long breath. Covered in a thin layer of spiritual energy, he gradually sank into the quicksand and dived deeper and deeper until he was almost a hundred meters below the desert.
Bo! Bo! Bo!
After he was so deep below the ground, Li Yao was finally able to release his spiritual energy blatantly. His spiritual energy in the liquid form gradually pushed the sand around him away like expanding seawater, creating a round space that was two meters in diameter.
Li Yao sat cross-legged in the space, with the Hidden Star Box that looked like an agate floating in front of him. He snapped his fingers and summoned almost a hundred dissection tools from his Cosmos Ring.
Since the Hidden Star Box is meant to be a legacy for the latecomers, it is certainly not completely locked. There must be a secret method to open it.
Although I don’t know the secret method, I can still crack it with brute force. It should be fine as long as I am cautious enough.
Li Yao was an expert in ancient magical equipment. ‘Chaos’ might have been more knowledgeable than him in terms of the arts of poison, but when it came to the refinement and the decryption of magical equipment, how could he have been match for Li Yao?
Li Yao narrowed his eyes. His fingers seemed to be pulling hundreds of invisible strings, and he manipulated tiny needles the width of hair to brush the Hidden Star Box quickly.
A gray mist immediately enveloped the Hidden Star Box. After a period of cracking noises, a glamorous red color surfaced on the Hidden Star Box, and sparks were bouncing deep inside the ‘brain’ that was made of agate, as if somebody’s thoughts were being triggered and ignited.
Sweat was pouring out on Li Yao’s forehead. Before it dripped down, it had already been vaporized by his skin, which was burningly hot now. The narrow space was enshrouded in a hazy mist.
Inside the mist, the brilliance emitted by the Hidden Star Box was even more blurred. Outside of the ‘brain’ the size of an apple, a brain of mystic rays the size of a real brain was generated.
The intersections of the rays of light were like synapses. Flames of telepathic thoughts were jumping up and down.
I’ve made it!
After a click that sounded like a pebble hitting the ground, a bloody diamond that resembled an eyeball protruded out of the center of the Hidden Star Box slowly.
From the bloody diamond beamed out a scarlet mystic ray that darted at Li Yao’s brain.
Li Yao was a person who had been possessed multiple times and therefore was quite familiar with the procedure. He had examined the Hidden Star Box thoroughly in case an old ghost from forty thousand years ago was hiding inside trying to steal his body.
Besides, if there were really a ghost trying to possess him, it would be hard to tell who would be possessed by whom in the end!
At that moment, Li Yao moved closer without hesitation and bathed his spiritual root in the mystic rays!
Hum!
Prolonged, weird noises echoed deep inside his brain suddenly. Countless emotions filled his braincells.
Li Yao had never tasted such complicated emotions before. There was the most devoted love and the deepest abhorrence, the highest hope for the future and the gloomiest desperation about the darkness of the world.
The complicated feelings stabbed him like iron sabers, which was multiple times more painful during Ou Yezi’s possession. He could not help but exclaim in a low voice.
Lights and shadows were changing around him, and the sand was gone. He seemed to have travelled through a channel of forty thousand years of time and appeared in a splendid palace where sacred clouds were floating!
The palace seemed to have been established on the clouds. It was boundless, with countless magnificent statues everywhere. Mystic rays were shooting up from every statue and supported the sky like thick pillars.
On the enormous stele above the gate of the palace, three giant words were written.
Ultimate One Sect!
Ultimate One Sect was one of the most brilliant sects in the last years of the ancient Cultivation world. It is said that the sect controlled almost a hundred Sectors and commanded millions of Cultivators. Billions of mortals were under the government of the Ultimate One Sect!
Li Yao tried to recall what he knew about the sect. He was like an invisible ghost floating on the top of the splendid building while he observed the excited ancient Cultivators in the palace!
Chapter 916: Ultimate One Sect, Ba Yanzhi! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
*They are the most important memory pieces of ‘Chaos’ when he was alive. Before his death, he compressed the most important events in his life into telepathic thoughts and saved them in the Hidden Star Box so that the latecomers would see his ‘last will’.*
Such a method to preserve telepathic thoughts was similar to the blast of Ou Yezi’s memory pieces. Li Yao had experienced it once before, and now his brain was significantly more developed. Therefore, he had no trouble absorbing the illusions of forty thousand years ago.
“Ba Yanzhi, do you plead guilty?”
A thunderous roar burst out from above, shaking and echoing in the palace.
Li Yao saw that high-level Cultivators in high caps and long robes who looked spectacular were pointing at a middle-aged, muscular man in shabby clothes with a long beard, cursing him loudly and angrily.
The bearded man named ‘Ba Yanzhi’ seemed unbefitting for the splendid, divine palace. He was wearing black armor and a pair of boots made of beast hide. There was smoke all over his face, and his armor was obviously stained. He was perhaps a low-level deacon in the Ultimate One Sect who was responsible for handling the specific affairs.
“Ba Yanzhi, as the manager of the ‘Infinite Farm’, you should’ve dedicated yourself to the breeding of the animals. Why did the inspectors report that many animals in the Infinite Farm had changed in appearance and were aggressive and undocile? The mortals living in the Infinite Farm have undergone terrifying changes, too. They turned hideous and acted crazily!
“Rumors in the Ultimate One Sect are that you are conspiring with evil sects outside and running insane, unpardonable experiments!
“Ba Yanzhi, what is the truth exactly? Confess now!”
The demander turned out be a magnificent Cultivator who was wearing a golden helmet and golden armor and looked like a high tower. The man’s skin was golden too, and it seemed to be melded with his garment. He was holding a long whip in his hand whose aura reached almost thirty meters away, already piercing into the dome of the palace.
Behind the golden giant, an enormous eight-trigram seat was floating in midair, on which an old, lean man was sitting cross-legged, his white hair touching the ground and his eyes half closed.
Ba Yanzhi raised his voice and shouted, “Leader, law-enforcing elder, I didn’t! Everything I did was for the Ultimate One Sect and all the living creatures under the government of the Ultimate One Sect!”
The gold giant bellowed coldly, “Whether or not you are guilty will be judged by the leader and the elders here. All you need to do is speak the whole truth!”
Right then, Li Yao’s perspective gradually fell to the ground into Ba Yanzhi’s body. He was observing the entire illusionary world from Ba Yanzhi’s eyes.
From that angle, all the faces around him were full of anger, loathing, or scorn.
The golden giant and the leader who was sitting on the eight trigrams were like two mountains that soared into the sky: high, mighty, and utterly inviolable.
Li Yao realized that the so-called ‘Ba Yanzhi’ was the master of the illusionary world and ‘Chaos’ in the future.
“Since a year ago,” Ba Yanzhi said, “the animals in the Infinite Farm have undergone a lot of weird mutations. As the manager of the farm, I was naturally obliged to found out the reason. After an arduous search, I finally found a weird black spring inside a cave at the edge of the farm.
“The animals who drank the water of the black spring turned extremely excited and went through all kinds of mutations.
“Weird changes also happened to the few mortals who went to investigate with me after they drank the water from the spring. Horns and scales grew out of them.”
The gold giant glared. “If that is the case, why did you not report the issue to the headquarters in a timely manner?”
With a bitter expression, Ba Yanzhi replied, “As you know, elder, the Infinite Farm is in the Infinite Planet, which is the most remote place in the Ultimate One Sect’s territory. It is simply too far away from the headquarters.
“Over the past years, the Ultimate One Sect has been engaged in wars with the evil sects such as the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood. The teleportation arrays between worlds are often jammed and intermittent. The Infinite Farm that I managed turned into a lone island every now and then.
“After I found the black spring, I planned to report the matter to my supervisor immediately through the teleportation arrays. But it happened to be the period when the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood launched a massive attack. The Infinite Planet was one of their targets. I struggled hard to resist them on the lone island and had to postpone the issue.
“In the half year that followed, our connection to the headquarters was off. It was with the joint efforts of everyone there that dozens of attacks of the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood were resisted.
“The mortals who went through mutations, on the other hand, acted and thought no differently from normal people, except that they looked a bit ugly with the weird scales and horns on their bodies. They could recognize their family and friends and always obeyed the rules.
“In the meantime, their physical strength was multiplied, and they were fearless of poison and venom. They could also feed on the soybean cakes, alfalfa, and crop stalks that were food for the animals. They were very useful in the battles. So, I simply left them alone.
“But out of my expectations, three months later, more and more mutated mortals showed up on the farm. I felt that it was odd and investigated, only to find out that the mortals living on the Infinite Planet regarded the black spring as the ‘godly spring’. If they were sick or heavily wounded beyond treatment, they would go to drink the water of the black spring. Although they would turn uglier, they could often survive the disasters and get used to the harsher food and environment.
“You may not know this, leader and elders, but during the few months when we were fighting on our own, the Infinite Planet was under the collective attack of the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood. There were indeed a lot of casualties, and we were seriously short of resources. Cultivators aside, the life of the mortals was extremely miserable. Ten of them went to the battlefield, and only one would return. Every household held at least one funeral in that period!
“The mortals proved their loyalty to the Ultimate One Sect on the battlefield. Now that they were heavily wounded and on the brink of death, how could I bear to turn them down when they wanted to drink the water of the black spring and live on to look after their family?
“Besides, in light of such heavy casualties, without timely treatment, I would’ve run out of soldiers very quickly. How could I resist the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood if so?
“Having no other options, I was forced to develop the black spring on a large scale.
“At first, the water of the black spring was only fed to the heavily wounded to save their lives. Later, as a lot of mortals were about to die of dyspepsia because of the inedible straw and soil they ate in their hunger, I had to distribute the water of the black spring to them, too, so that their internal organs could be strengthened and they could manage to survive with the supposedly indigestible food. We struggled for an entire year until the reinforcements of the Ultimate One Sect came to our rescue!
“Leader and elders, although a lot of mortals on the Infinite Planet look ugly right now, they are still decent civilians under the government of the Ultimate One Sect. They are definitely loyal to the Ultimate One Sect and have never committed any crimes!”
Ba Yanzhi did not seem to be a loquacious man, but he seemed to have prepared the speech a long time ago. Although he stammered occasionally, he still made his point in a rather convincing way.
The leader of the Ultimate One Sect slowly opened his eyes and talked gently to Ba Yanzhi. “Ba Yanzhi, I was there to watch you grow from a boy into a man. I know that you are outspoken and merciful and that it is impossible for you to do such inhuman things. So to speak, everything you did on the Infinite Planet was just due to the situation?
“Leader, it was not just due to the situation.” Encouraged by the leader, Ba Yanzhi held his chest high and declared, with tears in his eyes, “In my opinion, the mysterious spring can alter the future of the Ultimate One Sect and even end the era of mayhem!”
There was a minor riot nearby. Many high-level Cultivators were sneering. Some of them were even cursing aloud. “An insignificant deacon who is responsible for herding livestock in a remote farm is now talking about the future of the sect? How arrogant of you!”
But the leader of the Ultimate One Sect simply smiled and pressed his hands together, stopping everybody from whispering to each other. He said warmly, “Yanzhi, you may speak whatever is on your mind.”
Ba Yanzhi nodded and said resolutely, “Leader and elders, the world is in havoc nowadays, and all three thousand Sectors are consumed by the fires of war. Every sect is accusing other sects of being evil and attacking each other incessantly. As a result, many worlds have been shattered, and all living creatures are in peril!
“Marvelous as the Cultivators may be, we are merely struggling and breathing our last breath in the chaotic world. The mortals who barely have any strength are like ants and grass in the fierce thunderstorm. There is no telling when and where they will be killed!
“In the vast prairie on the Infinite Planet, I’ve been meditating on just one question while I stare at the boundless sea of stars.
“The universe is such a large place. Why do the Cultivators have to kill each other?
“I pondered for a long time and still failed to come up with an answer. But eventually, when I watched the animals in the farm dueling and attacking each other, I was suddenly enlightened.
“Resources!
“The resources in the three thousand Sectors are running low, but the remaining resources are not enough for us to march into the deeper part of the universe!
“Cultivators are trapped in a small farm like the tamed animals are. We are fighting hard until our blood runs dry for nothing but a brook that is about to dry up or a tiny area of grass!”
The leader of the Ultimate One Sect remained unmoved. He asked casually, “Then, what is the solution in your opinion?”
“If I may remind you, leader,” Ba Yanzhi replied loudly, “in fact, the resources in the three thousand Sectors are not running low at all. Abundant assets are still out there, waiting to be collected by us!
“Take the Infinite Planet for example. It is neighbored to the Green Wolf Planet and the Desolate Yellow Planet, both of which boast tremendous resources and mother lodes. Why do we have to fight blood battles against the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood for a few insignificant mother lodes?”
The leader of the Ultimate One Sect observed, “Of course, there are still a lot of places with a high reserve of resources. But they are extremely difficult to develop. The temperature of the Green Wolf Planet is too low for any crops to be grown, and the local plants are too rough and inedible for the minders. The Desolate Yellow Planet is filled with venomous fog. Even Cultivators can’t live there for long, much less ordinary miners!
“Every unit of resources that we collect in those places will be at the cost of twice as many resources. It is certainly not a bargain.”
“It might have been so in the past,” Ba Yanzhi announced excitedly, “but with the mysterious ‘black spring’, everything will be no longer a problem!”
Chapter 917: New Home! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
“Huh?”
The eyes of the Ultimate One Sect Leader beamed with interest.
“Leader, after the mortals drink the water of the black spring, their bodies were strengthened, and they became tireless. They were no longer scared of the venomous fog or the harsh environment. They adapted to the rough food, too!
“If so, can’t we send them to settle on the worlds where the environment is too hard for normal people?
“It will be a beneficial plan for everybody!
“Right now, the planets under the government of the Ultimate One Sect are all running out of resources. We barely have any harvest now, and we are often plagued by locusts and starvation. A lot of the crops and resources have to be supplied for the frontline, too. If the battles in the frontline do not go well, several planets will be taken over and even burnt to the ground.
“After the battles, it is often the case that nothing can be grown on the planets. Even in the places that are not savaged by the fires of war, famine still exists. The civilians often have to feed on rind, grass, or even soil. Sometimes, they even trade each other’s children as food. Their lives can be extremely difficult.
“Even if they are fortunate enough to join the army, they will be sent to the frontline before they have time for a satisfying meal to fight against the armies of the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood that are also made of mortals. In the end, they will also be ground into cannon fodder in the mill of flesh and blood!
“The civilians do not stand a chance of living at all right now!
“However, in the territory of the Ultimate One Sect, there are still a lot of desolate planets with harsh environments but abundant resources.
“If we organize the ordinary people who don’t have any other options and strengthen their bodies with the water of the black spring, they can survive the venomous fog, eat the rough plants on the planet, and even protect themselves when faced with the brutal local animals. Shouldn’t we send them to establish such settlements?
“No matter how ugly they look and how harsh the environment will be, it will certainly better than a death by starvation or taking someone else’s children as food!
“If so, a large batch of civilians will have a way to feed themselves, and the resources that they collect will be enough for the Ultimate One Sect to rest for a while instead of fighting desperately against the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood over several insignificant mother lodes. The three parties will be able to reach a truce!
“Even better, after we have accumulated enough resources, we will be able to continue marching toward the endless sea of stars outside of the three thousand Sectors, thereby jumping out of the ‘cage’ where we have to kill each other!
“By that time, infinite resources will be waiting for us at the other side of the sea of stars. All the sects in the three thousand Sectors will no longer have to fight against each other for the petty benefits. We will work together to explore the boundless universe. The wars will be ended forever, and we will embrace an eternal peace!
“In such a world, both mortals and Cultivators will live a happy life!
“This is what has been on my mind lately and the reason I started my research before reporting to the headquarters.
“I have indeed acted on my own regarding the issue. If the leader and elders decide to punish me, then I have nothing to say!
“However, the issue concerns the future of the Ultimate One Sect and all three thousand Sectors, and I believe that it is definitely worth discussing!
“Please give it a thought, leader!”
While talking, Ba Yanzhi suddenly fell on his knees and kowtowed to the high and mighty leader of the Ultimate One Sect.
The high-level Cultivators of the Ultimate One Sect nearby were all shocked. Forgetting what a solemn and formal place they were at, they were all whispering to each other.
“Strengthening the mortals to develop the desolate worlds?”
“It sounds rather plausible. However—”
“Yanzhi, stand up!” The leader of the Ultimate One Sect slightly raised his hand, and an invisible force supported Ba Yanzhi to stand on his feet. “If what you said is the truth, then you are indeed loyal to the Ultimate One Sect, and you should be credited instead of being punished.
“You should be properly rewarded for the sole fact that you defended the Infinite Planet for an entire year. But some people find it hard to believe that a small farm was able to resist the assault of the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood for an entire year. That is why we summoned you to return to the headquarters to explain everything.
“Naturally, more inspectors will be sent to investigate the issue thoroughly, but your wholehearted words are indeed very intriguing!”
Ba Yanzhi was overjoyed. “Leader, do you—do you agree to my proposal?”
The leader of the Ultimate One Sect scratched his long beard and smiled casually. The brilliance inside his eyes were so deep that it seemed to consume the entire universe.
The first memory fragment came to an end.
The illusionary world collapsed suddenly like a tower of sand. Then, the colorful quicksand swirled and congregated into a brand-new scene.
This should be the second most important memory piece for ‘Chaos’, Li Yao thought to himself. According to the first memory piece, turning mortals into ‘demons’ was actually because there was no other choice. That’s quite understandable. During the last years of the first civil war of Cultivators, in the shattered worlds where all the living creatures were in perils, the ordinary people only had a chance of survival if they were turned into demons.
But what happened later that transformed Ba Yanzhi into ‘Chaos’?
The second illusionary world was in a dry world below a bleak, yellow sky.
The plants on the mountains far away had all been chopped, revealing the bare rocks. Some of the rocks were already battered with shockingly large holes, as if the skeleton of the mountain had been dug out and exposed to the air.
On the drought-stricken land, a thick, long line of people was wriggling forward slowly, which was made up by thousands of starving civilians.
It was a planet of hunger.
Countless starving civilians, together with their entire families, moved slowly toward their hope while they carried their only belongings that were bundled in ragged cloths.
Occasionally, some of the staggering civilians would fall silently, but those behind them seemed to see nothing and simply step over their bodies. Even their family did not have much time to look at them and hurried to follow the line.
The years of war had completely destroyed the feelings of the ant-like people.
The destination of the line turned out to be a vast valley in which a large area of camps had been established temporarily. Behind the camps, deep inside the valley, enormous teleportation arrays more than a hundred meters in length and width had been set up.
Colorful beams shot out of the teleportation arrays now and then, piercing into the sky and showering the clouds in glamorous colors, as if they were a city of the deities. All the starving civilians were granted hope again and moved faster while shaking their limbs that were no thicker than straws.
Li Yao saw that countless starving civilians entered one side of the valley. There was no telling what kind of procedures they went through in the continuous camps, but when they walked out again from the other side, they had already become stronger and more muscular, with features of the demons on their bodies.
However, compared with the demons forty thousand years later, the features of the demons on those people were still sparse. Some of them had darker skin, some had grown horns or small tails, and some had longer canine teeth. Nothing more.
Ba Yanzhi was still wearing black armor, but his armor had been carefully cleaned and lubricated with oil, which made it as reflective as a mirror. He no longer had the ragged appearance from the first memory piece. Instead, his face was red, and he was commanding the starving civilians who had gone through mutations to get into the teleportation arrays in high spirits.
One teleportation array could accommodate almost a thousand starving civilians. After a flash, a thousand people disappeared. There was no telling where they had been sent.
“Master!”
Suddenly, six civilians, who were apparently a family, with long horns on their head and thicker noses, ran out of the line and bowed toward Ba Yanzhi. “Thank you for saving our lives! Thank you for saving our lives! Without you, our entire family would have been boiled and eaten up already!”
Ba Yanzhi observed them for a moment and burst into laughter. He patted one of the muscular men’s shoulders and said loudly, “Zhang Niuer, it’s you! I did not expect that you could become so strong after you drank the ‘Divine Water of Kunlun 1 ‘ even though you were as thin as a lath. Your name is particularly suitable for you right now. 2 Hahahaha! What about your new appearance? Have you been used to it?”
“You will not be hungry anymore!” Ba Yanzhi promised them. “When you arrive in the Green Wolf Planet, a certain coverage of land will be allocated to every household. Even part of the production in the mother lodes will be redistributed to you, too! As long as you are willing to work hard, your life will certainly be better in the future!”
“Thank you master. We cannot return your favor even if we work as bulls and horses—”
While talking, Zhang Niuer seemed to have realized that his current appearance was more or less similar to bulls and horses, and he was amused by himself.
Ba Yanzhi smiled, too. He said firmly, “There’s no need to work as bulls and horses for me. If you really want to return my favor, just live a good life on the Green Wolf Planet and try to develop the place into a new, prosperous world!
“With the resources that you collect on the Green Wolf Planet, more starving civilians will be fed, and the war between us and the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood can be ended. Chances are that you will be able to return to your home one day in the future!”
“If we are really given a piece of the land, we will not be coming back! Home? Wherever I can feed my children will be my home!” Zhang Niuer said boldly.
Ba Yanzhi was dazed for a moment, before he nodded. “Well said, Zhang Niuer. The home is where the stomach can be fed. Go now to build our home!”
After thanking him multiple times, Zhang Niuer and his family joined the crowd in a hurry and boarded the teleportation array along with other bizarre-looking civilians whose eyes were shining with hope. After glamorous flashing, they marched into their new home!
The memory piece was like a mirage and soon dispersed. Butterflies of light and shadow danced and formed the third scene. This time, Ba Yanzhi returned to the headquarters of the Ultimate One Sect. He was back at the splendid palace again.
The palace had expanded and looked even more spectacular than last time. Every corner of the palace was extravagant, as if it were a palace in the heaven. Even the stele of ‘Ultimate One Sect’ was now decorated with eye-catching adornments.
But Ba Yanzhi’s miserable scream was echoing inside the splendid palace like the cry of a ghost.
“You lied to me, leader. You lied to me!”
Chapter 918: Divine Water of Kunlun ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
“You promised me that every mortal who took the Divine Water of Kunlun would be given part of the land and the mother lodes after they arrived on the Green Wolf Planet and the Desolate Yellow Planet. You said that all they needed to do was pay a tax of twenty-five kilograms of crystals!
“But the result of a secret investigation is that the mortals who went to the two planets were not given any part of the land. They lost their freedom and were locked up as slaves. Also, they were forced to work in the deep, dark mother lodes day and night because they had to submit fifty kilograms of crystals every month!
“Abundant as the resources of the Green Wolf Planet and the Desolate Yellow Planet might be, it is impossible for a miner to excavate so many crystals in one month!
“Countless people were killed either by exhaustion or because of explosions and collapses!
“The Ultimate One Sect is keeping everything a secret. At this moment, countless mortals who are left with no choices still regard the Green Wolf Planet, the Desolate Yellow Planet, and other undeveloped planets as their last hope. They are going to drink the Divine Water of Kunlun and build their new home!
“Why did you lie to those mortals? Why did you lie to me? Why!”
Ba Yanzhi’s clothes were tattered, his face swollen. There was also a broken flying sword on his shoulder blade. Every step that he took forward would leave a bloody footprint behind.
He had paid a high price after barging into the headquarters despite blockage!
“How bold of you!”
Countless Cultivators in golden armor crowded forward and suppressed Ba Yanzhi’s shoulder with their blades.
“You are just an insignificant deacon. How dare you trespass on the headquarters unannounced?”
Ba Yanzhi’s knees were uttering cracking noises, but he gritted his teeth to keep standing, with fury beaming out of his eyes.
Inside the palace, the eight-trigram seat that the leader of the Ultimate One Sect sat on had been upgraded to one that was carved out of marrow crystals in the shape of a lotus, making him even more brilliant and look like a deity.
On the eight-trigram seat, the leader of the Ultimate One Sect slowly flew over to Ba Yanzhi. He gestured for the Cultivators to move their blades away and spoke gently. “There’s no need to be anxious, Yanzhi. I know that you’ve contributed a lot to the ‘Expedition Operation’. You are acting silly because you are too concerned about it. I don’t blame you.
“As for the drudgery of the new worlds, it can’t be helped.
“Those settlements have only just been established from scratch. Naturally, hard work is required. Also, right now, we are at the most critical moment of the final battle. Tremendous assets are being consumed on the frontline on a daily basis. Therefore, we must hurry to collect more in the rear in case our endeavors are sabotaged at the last moment.”
Ba Yanzhi was dazed. “What ‘final battle’? Haven’t we reached a truce with the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood?”
The leader smiled and said, “That’s thanks to you, Yanzhi. Before, the Ultimate One Sect, the Mystic Moon Sect, and the Dragon King Brotherhood had been in conflict for years, and we were all exhausted and running out of resources. The war could not be fought anymore. There was no choice but to cease it.
“However, you found the Divine Water of Kunlun and organized the Expedition Operation, which significantly enhanced the capability of the Ultimate One Sect. Now that we are obviously stronger than the two sects, there is no way that we can show mercy to them and allow them to grow into bigger trouble in the future.”
“What?” Ba Yanzhi gasped. “The territories of the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood are bitter cold places with barely any resources. Now that we have so many resourceful planets to develop, why do we have to annihilate the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood?”
“It’s everyone’s responsibility to wipe out the evil sects. Do we need another reason?
“Besides, after years of war, many predecessors of the Ultimate One Sect have sacrificed themselves. It is our duty to avenge them so that they will rest in peace!
“Moreover,” the leader of the Ultimate One Sect said solemnly, “although the territories of the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood are bitterly cold places, don’t we have a bunch of slaves that are fearless of the cold right now? Calculated in such a way, the value of the two sects is much higher.”
Ba Yanzhi’s face blanched. His face was so pale that even his beard was turning white at a visible speed!
He mumbled to himself in self-mockery, “So, this is the truth. You never wanted to stop the war. You will attack even more Sectors even if the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood are exterminated!
“This is why you’ve turned all the pioneers into slaves!
“This is why you are producing ‘Ultimate One Slave Soldiers’ with the pioneers!”
The leader narrowed his eyes. “What did you say?”
“I know everything now!” Ba Yanzhi clutched two flying swords with his hands. His palms were cut by the blades, and his blood was flowing along them. With tears in his eyes, he gnashed his teeth. “Not only do you treat all the pioneers as slaves, you are also adding various kinds of poison to the Divine Water of Kunlun and running experiments on the starving civilians!
“Countless civilians have been poisoned by you!
“Even more of them have been turned into unintelligent monsters by you!
“If they drink the Divine Water of Kunlun, their appearance will have slight changes, but their head is still clear. They can recognize their family and their home, and they know how to talk and laugh!
“However, after your experiments, they’ve completely turned into monsters. Monsters!”
The leader of the Ultimate One Sect became gloomy. He coughed.
“Shut up!” the law-enforcing elder standing next to the elder bellowed. “Ba Yanzhi, you are merely a third-level deacon and a Cultivator in the Core Formation Stage. Watch your language!
“Ba Yanzhi, you have ill, insane intentions. You’ve shouted in the headquarters and disrespected the leader, which is in violation of the rules. Kneel down now!”
Ba Yanzhi burst into laughter. Two lines of bloody tears flowed out. His hair was spluttering, making him seem to be a devil. But his knees were as tough as iron and supported him to keep standing proudly.
“Huh?”
The law-enforcing elder pressed his hands. The bones all over Ba Yanzhi’s body were cracking. “Kneel down, now!”
“I will not!” Ba Yanzhi went mad and pointed at the leader of the Ultimate One Sect, cursing. “Wang Qianyi, all the civilians under the government of the Ultimate One Sect regard the Ultimate One Sect as the ‘heavens’ and worship the Cultivators of this sect as ‘gods’. But how has the Ultimate One Sect been treating them? Years of famine, decimated and ravished villages everywhere. Are they not the responsibility of Cultivators?
“As the leader of the sect, instead of planning a happier life for the civilians under you, you are savaging them as if they were beasts. You are talking about evilness, but I say that you are the greatest evil. I, Ba Yanzhi, will kneel before pigs, dogs, or devils before I kneel before a bastard like you!”
“What!”
All the Cultivators in the palace gasped.
“Ba Yanzhi, you are insane. You’ve been possessed. On your knees now!”
The golden hands of the law-enforcing deacon crunched every joint on Ba Yanzhi’s body into pieces. Bloody mist leaked out of the pores on his body and dyed it red!
But he simply fell over. Although his bones were shattered and he collapsed to the ground, he did not kneel, nor did he stop cursing aloud until the golden giant suppressed and suffocated him.
The third illusionary world was slowly closed in the color of blood. Li Yao was sweating hard while he watched it.
Then, two thin red threads appeared in the darkness and slowly expanded to a cluster of crimson brightness. He was now in a dreadful dungeon.
Ba Yanzhi’s shoulder blades and spine had been tied up by the chains carved with spiritual stripes. His appearance had undergone drastic changes, too. Two horns that looked like enormous sabers protruded out of his forehead. Tusks bared out of his mouth. His arms could reach his feet, with villus that looked like needles all over them.
Other than Ba Yanzhi, endless bizarre-shaped creatures were confined in the enormous, maze-like dungeon.
Some of the creatures still had features of human beings, but some others were like abnormal tigers and wolves, or insects that had been enlarged thousands of times. They had lost their ability to speak and simply bashed the dirt wall futilely, raising rattling noises of the chains.
In the depths of the dungeon, miserable screams came over every once in a while, carried by the gloomy wind.
In front of Ba Yanzhi was a handsome, unblemished Cultivator wearing a white robe and wreathed in golden brightness. In the contrast of the dirty, filthy environment, he was like an angel that had descended from the heaven.
“Why?” Ba Yanzhi stared at the man. “Qing Xuzi, why do you have to do this? Why do you have to turn the ordinary people into such wretched appearances? They cannot talk or recognize their family. They don’t have any human thoughts now!”
Qing Xuzi, the elegant Cultivator, smiled. “The mundane mortals have been living an ignorant life that is no different from animals’ in the first place. They do not need to talk or think. All they need to do is serve the Ultimate One Sect dutifully.”
Ba Yanzhi struggled to say, “They are all human beings!”
“Wrong,” Qing Xuzi denied casually. “You were the supervisor of the Expedition Operation for a couple of days, and you should’ve seen the starving civilians in person. Lean, hideous, illiterate, and sometimes even bordering on cannibalism!
“When they are offered a few bean pies, they fight like dogs. When Cultivators extended a foot to them, they hurry to lick the bottom of our shoes!
“How are such things qualified to be called human beings?
“Only Cultivators and our descendants can be called human beings. Those things are just grass and ants. They would have been useless throughout their life!
“Right now, with the Divine Water of Kunlun, they are finally of some value and can return the nurturing and sheltering that the Ultimate One Sect has provided for them for years. It is their greatest glory. Why are you so infuriated?
“If I may suggest, you might want to worry about yourself first before you worry about other people!”
Qing Xuzi gestured and picked a bamboo cylinder that looked like green jade from his subordinate.
He slowly opened the bamboo cylinder. A cluster of weird purple gas immediately popped up.
Two of the subordinates went forward and opened Ba Yanzhi’s mouth by force with specially made iron clubs and other tools. After two cracking sounds, his jaw was entirely broken.
“Thanks to your discovery on the Infinite Planet, we have now developed dozens of types of ‘Divine Water of Kunlun’, with different poisons and pills as ingredients, all based on the black spring!” Qing Xuzi said with a smile.
“The water that is being offered to you, on the other hand, is the latest project of our research team. I am looking forward to your new appearance after you are completely reborn.
“Hehe. With the Ultimate One Slave Soldiers that are dependable and boast endless physical strength, the Ultimate One Sect will certainly become the greatest sect in the three thousand Sectors. One day, we might even become the only Sect in the entire universe. Ours will be the only true Dao!”
Chapter 919: Total War! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Perhaps because Ba Yanzhi’s body and brain went through intense mutations after he took the ‘Divine Water of Kunlun’, the memory pieces that followed were broken and unsystematic. They were like a quickly-spinning kaleidoscope where countless bloody scenes of war were displayed in the mottled pieces.
In every memory piece, Ban Yanzhi was moving together with countless bizarre-looking creatures, many of which were almost identical to the bronze-blood demons and the black-blood demons of the modern era.
Their critical parts were penetrated through by chains, and they congregated into overwhelming beast tides, charging at the army of Cultivators on the opposite side with the prolonged horns!
Blade auras were sweeping, and mystic rays were exploding among them, blowing a large batch of demon soldiers into pieces. However, the survivors still marched forward, driven by an uncanny force, until they reached the battle formation of the Cultivators and killed every Cultivator that they saw!
Li Yao noticed that the flags of the Mystic Moon Sect and the Dragon King Brotherhood were burnt into ashes by the furious flames!
Time went on. New wars were still coming. After annihilating the two sects with the demon soldiers, the Ultimate One Sect marched toward an even vaster world.
More and more demon soldiers appeared around Ba Yanzhi. They were stronger and with more hideous faces. More kinds of the Divine Water of Kunlun were formulated, stimulating the most bloodthirsty and brutal genes of the demon soldiers. Gradually, there was no longer a need to bind them with chains; they would lunge fearless charges whenever they heard the horn or smelt the special scent.
Riding the enormous boats, or through the portals left in the primeval era, they appeared in different worlds.
Some of the new worlds were scorching, with magma everywhere. Some were freezing all year long. Some were primitive forests brimming with swamps. Still some were prosperous towns with coruscating buildings.
But all the worlds were cast into death, desperation, and desolation under the scourge of the tides of insects and beasts.
“Demon soldiers!”
“The Ultimate One Demon Soldiers have arrived!”
Gradually, whenever they showed up at a battlefield, the hostile Cultivators would scream in terror and defect before the battle began.
With the demon soldiers, the Ultimate One Sect invaded countless worlds and enjoyed its heyday!
Ba Yanzhi was unbelievably lucky. During the suicidal charges, no matter what shocking wounds he suffered, he survived them all, as if some immense force was hidden inside his unrecognizable body, waiting to be awakened.
The Ultimate One Sect did not forget the intrepid disciple, either. After every battle, Ba Yanzhi would receive ‘special treatment’. He would be sent back to the dungeon to be experimented on in the most appalling and cruel ways.
As dozens of different types of ‘Divine Water of Kunlun’ were injected into his body, he became stronger and more brutal. The sparks of his self-awareness were like torches that had fallen into a swamp, swallowed by the darkness.
Right then—
In a new battlefield, on a boundless prairie, millions of the Ultimate One Demon Soldiers were grouped again, waiting for the battle drum anxiously.
However, this time, their enemies standing in front of them turned out to also be ugly demon soldiers!
“Ultimate One Sect, your secret arts have been seen through!
“You didn’t see this coming, do you? The Alliance of Nine Sects captured quite a few demon soldiers after the failures. We have figured out your dirty tricks!
“Now, the Alliance of Nine Sects is producing our own demon soldiers!
“Hehe. There are three times more mortals under our nine sects than those under the Ultimate One Sect, which means that we can produce three times more demon soldiers than you can. How can you fight against us?”
The horns finally sounded around the battlefield.
The tides of insects and beasts, all made of ordinary people and essentially identical to each other, crashed into each other from the two sides of the battlefield.
Maybe it was his imagination, Li Yao thought he saw a tear in the crimson eyes of the demon soldiers on the other side before the tides crashed.
BOOM!
The messy memory pieces were finally shattered by the destructive battle of demon soldiers.
Li Yao clearly sensed that Ba Yanzhi’s consciousness was slowly surfacing and condensing. He was regaining his self-awareness and memories.
Very soon, a new illusionary world appeared inside Li Yao’s brain.
It was a planet with a bright purple sky. The atmosphere was rather thin, and one could see the blinking stars in the universe.
Bright green fog filled the surface of the planet. Occasionally, poisonous gas would spurt out of the crevices. It was apparently not the most suitable place for human beings.
Ba Yanzhi was standing on a protruding rock. He was now more than five meters tall, with green scales all over his body. His feet pierced into the rock like the claws of an eagle. There were only four fingers on his left hand, each of which was growing fingernails that looked like sabers. His right hand was his only relatively normal body part.
His face was ugly, his eyes blood red. Three horns soared into the sky from his head, as if he was wearing an unsightly crown.
A thick rope was tied to his waist, on which more than ten flying swords were hanging. On his back was a colorful cloak that was spluttering in the wind. With a closer look, one would discover that it was made from the flags of dozens of Cultivation sects!
With a solemn face, Ba Yanzhi looked at afar.
The deep canyon ahead of him was packed by all kinds of bizarre-shaped demon soldiers who looked like monsters in a nightmare. However, they all remained silent in battle formations under the suppression of Ba Yanzhi’s aura, like rows of statues.
“Brothers!”
Ba Yanzhi’s voice rushed past the canyon like a gust. Even the rocks around were emitting rattling noises because of the blast.
“All the brothers standing here are from different worlds, have different pasts, and used to have entirely different faces!
“However, there is something that is the same about us.
“We have all lost our families and our everything because of the Cultivators!
“Those high and mighty Cultivators, for their own training and longevity, exploited and savaged the mortals in every way possible!
“For their own personal interests, and under the pretext of ‘great Dao’ and ‘righteousness’, they attacked each other while sending the armies of mortals as the vanguard!
“Countless worlds have been demolished in the civil war of the Cultivators. The homes of countless mortals have destroyed because of a bombardment of the Cultivators!
“Is there any world where billions of mortals were not killed by Cultivators? Is there anybody here whose family members were not slain by Cultivators?
“In the end, the resources are running dry, the crystals are mostly used up, and the spiritual energy is thinner and thinner. The war cannot be fought any longer. However, they started to deceive the mortals and built countless mortals into terrifying monsters. They continued asking us to kill each other or collect and mine for them in the harshest environments!
“Even worse, they corrupted our brains with poison, depriving many of our brothers of the abilities to think and talk!
“Can we suffer any more of these days?
“Can we still wait and watch our fathers and brothers be sent into the mines of the desolate planets and toil until they die?
“Can we still wait and watch our wives and daughters be captured by the Cultivators and end up as slaves in their sects?
“Can we still wait and watch ourselves be modified into inhuman demon soldiers, to fight against our brothers whom we have no grudges with, and to die in an alien land billions of kilometers from our hometowns without even a gravestone?”
” No! ”
” We can’t! ”
Roars were echoing in the tides of insects and beasts.
Ba Yanzhi opened his arms and pressed down, containing everyone’s emotions. “Cultivators are the greatest cancer of the three thousand Sectors! Only after we kill all the Cultivators can our fathers, brothers, sisters, wives, and children be freed and live happy lives!
“Hehe. The Cultivators who turned us into such wretched creatures despised us as ‘demon soldiers’!
“Very good. Demon soldiers we might be, but from today on, the demon soldiers will not fight for any sect or any goddamn Cultivator!
“We will only fight for ourselves, for your families, for the brand-new species made of us!
“Move all the Cultivators here!”
Ba Yanzhi waved his hands. Several demons carried up dozens of Cultivators who were tied up.
On the empty ground behind Ba Yanzhi, more than ten ballistae had been deployed. The Cultivators were all inserted into belts at the ends of the ballistae.
“B—Brother Ba, Uncle Ba, Master Ba!”
One of the Cultivators was already peeing in fear. He turned out to be Qing Xuzi, the one responsible for the refinement of the Divine Water of Kunlun in the Ultimate One Sect. His legs and tongue were shaking as he begged, “Master Ba, please spare my life. I was wrong! I—I’m willing to correct my wrongdoings and join your cause. I know many secrets of the Ultimate One Sect. I’m useful. I’m very useful!”
Ba Yanzhi’s eyes glanced over Qing Xuzi’s rather handsome face and spat on the ground. He slashed his giant hand down as if it were a saber. “Offer the sacrifices to our flag!”
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Several demon soldiers kicked the triggers of the ballistae hard. Including the crying Qing Xuzi, all the Cultivators were thrown into the horde of insects and beasts. Very soon, they were drowned by the furious demon soldiers, and even their bones were all chewed up.
The second batch of Cultivators were sent into the ballistae again. Many of them had already been grasped by fear. Like chickens or ducks whose neck had been cut open, they were uttering meaningless sounds from their throats. Their previous elegant, deity-like demeanor had entirely gone.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
The Cultivators were tossed out again. While they were still in midair, they were riddled with holes by venomous acid and stings, shattered apart with blood spurting out like a storm!
Behind Ba Yanzhi, an enormous flag gradually rose up and flagged in the wind. There was only one giant, bloody word on the black flag.
Demon!
Below the flag, a muscular man with a bullet head, who was more than ten meters tall and short of a right eye with scars all over his body as if he were sewed together from hundreds of pieces, was staring at the flag of the bloody demon wholeheartedly. He seemed to be dedicating his entire life to the flag.
Ba Yanzhi patted the man’s shoulder hard and said softly, “Zhang Niuer, I am sorry!”
The scarred, half-blind, bull-headed man grinned. A coarse voice echoed deep down from his throat. “Moo…”
Zhang Niuer had already lost the ability to speak.
Two rows of hot, bloody tears flowed out of Ba Yanzhi’s eyes again. He mumbled, “Last time, I told you that I would let you and your family live a better life. I did not live up to my promise. I didn’t know that things would end up like this.
“But this time, I will not go back on my word again, and I will fulfil my promise to you!”
Clang!
The pale bone blade made of the bones of an enormous beast was unsheathed, and the killing intent blew out a bloody swirl in the bright purple sky. Ba Yanzhi roared thunderously, “Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill all the Cultivators to make a world of peace and justice!”
Chapter 920: Blood in Empyrean Terminus! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The pale saber aura, mixed with endless storms of blood, swept across the entire universe. The memory pieces that followed were revolving at a much higher speed, and Li Yao experienced thousands of fierce battles in Ba Yanzhi’s illusionary world.
At first, faced with the well-trained, disciplined Cultivators who boasted marvelous techniques, the demon soldiers, who had all been ordinary people in the past, suffered more defeats than victories. Many a time, they were attacked collectively by several major sects until there were barely any survivors left.
But the demon soldiers had the greatest advantage on their side, which was their sheer numbers!
This part was exactly the same with the history that Li Yao had read in his textbooks.
At the end of the civil war of the ancient Cultivators, the spiritual energy was running dry, and all the sects suffered heavy casualties. A protracted great war could not be fought solely by Cultivators any longer.
Therefore, after the secret of the ‘Divine Water of Kunlun’ was discovered, the Ultimate One Sect, the Alliance of Nine Sects, and the thousands of sects in the three thousand Sectors had been modifying the mortals under their government in secret, transforming the army of mortals into demon soldiers and demon generals to fight the war in place of the Cultivators.
Later, the paradigm of the wars was one or two Cultivators commanding thousands of demon soldiers. Should the demon soldiers be crushed, the Cultivators would immediately run away without even looking back.
After all, as the war went on, Cultivators were too precious to be killed easily for no good reason.
As for the Cultivation sects that were unwilling to produce demon soldiers, they were mostly swallowed, their heritage gone, under the scourge of other sects and their infinite demon soldiers!
As the vicious cycle continued, demon soldiers proliferated like viruses. They became the greatest supply for Ba Yanzhi.
Even though he only had several soldiers around him, as long as he could ignite the flame of resistance in the hearts of those demon soldiers and demon generals, Ba Yanzhi’s army would be resurrected from obliteration time and time again. Eventually, it grew larger and larger like a snowball!
Just like that, after a hundred years of bloody battles, Li Yao saw that the army around Ba Yanzhi was far larger and more magnificent. In the beginning, they had worn skirts and armor made of hide and cloths, and they been fighting with their claws and teeth. Later, they were all in armors made of fine metals, carrying flying swords that they had and riding boats that they robbed of the Cultivators.
All while they kindled the fire of insurgency from one planet to another!
At each new world that they reached, all the Cultivation sects were annihilated. The land and mother lodes under the control of the Cultivators were distributed to the mortals. The Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures and the pills that were in the Cultivators’ collection would be pulverized into powder and blended into food to help the hungry civilians live through the famine.
As a result, to defend their own land and to stop the Cultivators from coming back, a lot of mortals drank the Divine Water of Kunlun of their own will, turned into demons, and obeyed Ba Yanzhi’s command!
“As long as we can protect our own land, feed our family, and let them live a happy life, what’s wrong with being a demon?”
Ba Yanzhi’s army liberated one world after another under such an ideology!
In the end, in a brilliant new world, below the colorful, spectacular nebulas that were spinning fast, Ba Yanzhi was staring at a planet. Hundreds of rings were swirling rapidly and constituted a solid array. The collision of the star dusts triggered three magnificent, awe-inspiring worlds.
Empyrean Terminus Sect!
Li Yao was suddenly shocked. The Empyrean Terminus Sect had been the strongest sect in the three thousand Sectors at the end of the era of the ancient Cultivators.
In the history books that Li Yao had read, it was also the sect that had been the last to be wiped out by the demons.
After the Star Ocean Imperium was established, its capital world had been named ‘Empyrean Terminus Sector’, and the space zone it was in had been named ‘Empyrean Terminus Space Zone’, in honor of the Empyrean Terminus Sect.
In front of the billions of demon soldiers was a fleet of warships that was densely packed together. They were almost as brilliant as the galaxy, showcasing the formidability of the Empyrean Terminus Sect silently!
Li Yao took a long breath. It appeared that this was the final war between the demons and the ancient Cultivators.
Ba Yanzhi was wearing translucent black armor, with a huge saber that was made by combining the ‘best treasures’ of almost a hundred Cultivation sects on his shoulder, and standing on a warship that he had captured.
The warship had already been tied up by countless thick veins that looked like trunks. Half transparent lumps were growing out of the veins, fluctuating and releasing bright green venomous gas into the warship.
After a hundred years of evolution, the demons right now were no longer used to the air that human beings breathed.
Ba Yanzhi’s back was as straight as a hundred years ago, but his eyes were now much more hollowed. The brilliance inside his eyes was like the sharpness of a sword in the sheath.
“This is our last war!
“On our way to this place, we have destroyed hundreds of Cultivation sects, slain countless Cultivators, and rescued even more mortals who were oppressed by the Cultivators!
“Right now, the remnants of those Cultivation sects are all hiding in the Empyrean Terminus Sect, gnashing their teeth and grinding their sabers, ready to crush us and return to their own worlds!
“They are preparing to go back and take back the land that has been distributed to you. They are going to enslave our family, sh*t on the top of our head, and resume their extravagant lives!
“The fate of all mortals in the three thousand Sectors is now in our hands and will be decided by our sabers, swords, claws, and teeth!
“If you don’t want to be a slave forever, just charge at the scumbags together with me!”
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
In the boundless sea of stars, a tiny galaxy seemed to have expanded abruptly. Every warship that made up the ‘galaxy’ activated their spiritual energy to the maximum. Their halos were melted into a roaring dragon whose every scale was standing up!
Before the warships charged out, billions of flying swords had already darted toward the defense line on the opposite side like a surging tide.
From the defense line of the Empyrean Terminus Sect, billions of dazzling mystic rays were shooting close, too!
The collision of the two destructive hurricanes made the stars of the galaxy as lackluster as burnt coal. The stars far away even died down instantly and turned into a black background for the war!
In the illusionary world, the scene was frozen for a long time before the turbulence of spiritual energy that was sweeping the universe tore it apart.
But this time, the darkness lasted for a long time. What reappeared in the end was a black and white world.
Li Yao vaguely felt that this was the part of his memory that Ba Yanzhi was least willing to recall.
Ba Yanzhi was floating in the sky of a world of fire. On the ground, the pavilions and towers covering thousands of kilometers had been burnt to the ground. Almost a thousand floating mountains were hitting the ground like meteors, leaving craters that looked like scars.
Splendid buildings could be found on the crooked floating mountains, too, but they were mostly being consumed by the furious flames.
Li Yao saw that ‘Empyrean Terminus Sect’ was carved on one of the mountains.
The Empyrean Terminus Sect had finally been taken over by the army of demons!
Li Yao had mixed feelings, not knowing how to comment on Ba Yanzhi’s behavior.
However, the Empyrean Terminus Sect was the last fortress for the Cultivators. Now that the Empyrean Terminus Sect had been occupied, the demons should have secured a great victory now.
The history books of the posterity proved the point, too. Ever since the Empyrean Terminus Sect was breached, the Cultivators had never been able to launch large-scale counterattacks. The minor resistance was mostly suppressed very quickly.
Then, it was the thirty-thousand-year-long ‘Great Dark Era’!
Ba Yanzhi, as the leader of the demons, clearly won the war. How did he end up in the Blood Demon Sector at the edge of the sea of stars and even turn into ‘Chaos’?
Screams and yells were echoing on the ground. However, it was not a battle between demons and Cultivators.
It was a civil war between several troops of demons!
Hundreds of flags of bloody demons were shaking violently in the battle. Now and then, they fell and were stomped into the mud.
Around Ba Yanzhi, almost ten streaks of brightness rushed close and surrounded him, condensing into eight human beings with a dominating aura.
No. Not human beings—demons!
Of the eight demons, some were carrying the most glamorous scales, some had colorful feathers surrounded by mystic rays, and some were dragging a long tail, with the vintage feeling of the primeval era.
Although they were apparently demons, Li Yao had to admit that the superb and extraordinary auras around them were even more eye-catching than those of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators.
They almost gave Li Yao a feeling that they were a nobler species far above mankind!
Compared to them, Ba Yanzhi, whose left arm had almost been chopped off in the bloody battle just now, looked poignant and ugly. He was like a tiger who had just struggled out of a trap, and his blood was almost running dry!
The leader of the eight demons seemed to absorbed a huge dragon into his body. However, his handsome face gave Li Yao a familiar feeling. Li Yao felt that he had seen the guy somewhere.
Li Yao thought quickly and searched the memory pieces. Very soon, he found the answer and gasped hard.
It was Wang Qianyi, the leader of the Ultimate One Sect who was the first to modify mortals into demon soldiers, who was cursed by Ba Yanzhi, and who sentenced Ba Yanzhi to the dungeon to be changed into a demon soldier!
However, a hundred years ago, Wang Qianyi had looked like a weary old man. Right now, he seemed to be back his prime, healthy years. Every muscle on his face was bulging while he grinned hideously and unreservedly!
Li Yao did not expect that the guy had modified himself into a demon, too. Also, judging from the appearance, he was even more immaculate than Ba Yanzhi!
Yes. Compared to the eight demons, Ba Yanzhi and the demon soldiers under his command were like the bronze-blood demons and the black-blood demons of modern time. Ugly, clumsy, and foolish.
But the leader of the Ultimate One Sect was even more handsome, strong, and majestic than the silver-blood demons nowadays. He was perhaps what the saint-blood demons in legends looked like!
“Wan Qianyi… It’s really you, Wang Qianyi!”
Ba Yanzhi narrowed his eyes and stared at the guy’s face for almost five seconds. Finally, he recognized who the new enemy was. He burst into such fury that his wounds cracked again, and his blood burst out like a mist!
“Weren’t you already dead? How did you change into such an appearance?”
Chapter 921: Scheme of the Ultimate One Demons! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
When the leader of the Ultimate One Sect smiled, every scale on his body seemed to shine. The new force inside his body made his voice no longer as mild as water but as irresistible as the thunders in the sky.
“Don’t you see, Yanzhi? Everything has been within the Ultimate One Sect’s plan. For the last hundred years, we have been pulling your nose!
“Everything you did was merely to clear all the obstacles for the Ultimate One Sect!”
“What?” Ba Yanzhi’s face paled. Every wound on his body was opening like the lips of a baby, but there was no more blood that could flow out right now. He bellowed, “It’s impossible. It’s simply impossible!”
The leader of the Ultimate One Sect explained, “A hundred years ago, the Ultimate One Sect was the first to produce the Ultimate One Demon Soldiers with the Divine Water of Kunlun. We planned to unite the three thousand Sectors with the demon soldiers and wreathe all the stars in the universe in the radiance of the righteous Ultimate One Sect.
“However, other sects soon copied the formulas of the Divine Water of Kunlun through the captives or the bodies of the Ultimate One Demon Soldiers, and they created various kinds of demon soldiers of their own. Our great plan suffered a minor setback.
“More importantly, as more and more demon soldiers were created in the Cultivation sects, the problem that they could not be controlled gradually surfaced. Mutinies were happing all the time. The Ultimate One Sect was also a victim of such uprisings. We experienced dozens of insurrections ourselves.
“How were we going to control the three thousand Sectors if it went on like that?
“Hehe. Right at that time, you rose up and declared war on the world of Cultivators.
“The Ultimate One Sector gathered all the Cultivators above the Nascent Soul Stage and discovered, after thorough deduction and calculation, that the fire of insurgency could not be extinguished. Even Ba Yanzhi failed and died, a second, a third Ba Yanzhi would stand up!
“It was better to go with the trend than to blindly resist it!
“If we could not unite the universe as Cultivators, what’s wrong with achieving our purpose as ‘demons’?
“For a hundred years, your army led the charge in the frontline, helping us annihilate countless hostile sects and Cultivators whom we have wanted to kill for a long time!
“The core members of the Ultimate One Sect, on the other hand, lurked in the darkness after we pretended to be destroyed by you and continued our experiment and refinement!
“We gathered the ‘Divine Water of Kunlun’ of different formulas from countless sects and tested them on mortals. After decades of experiments, we have finally created the most perfect ‘Divine Water of Chaos’!
“Look at our new bodies. How impeccable, how splendid, and how magnificent!
“This should be the real appearance of demons!
“In the meantime, the members of the Ultimate One Sect gradually leaked into your army, too.
“The universe is too large a place, and you’ve been dedicated to the war on the frontline all this time. How would you know what was happening in a certain Sector among the sea of stars?
“Hehe. It doesn’t matter if I tell you the truth now. While you were fighting bloody battles in the frontline, the Ultimate One Sect took control of more than three hundred Sectors!
“The bumpkins have just left their farmland and washed their feet clean. Do they know anything about the management of a city or a province? They will still have to count on us in the end!
“Even your army of billions of soldiers has been seriously infiltrated by us from your logistics to your combat units!
“Oh, right. It is not appropriate to call us the ‘Ultimate One Sect’ anymore. Right now, we are the ‘Ultimate One Demons’. We are the supreme dominators of the demon race!”
Dozens of crystal bombs seemed to be exploding inside Ba Yanzhi’s throat at the same time. He could not utter a word.
“Yanzhi, I have always thought highly of you,” the leader of the Ultimate One Sect praised. “You accomplished every task assigned to you satisfactorily without any complaint. Even such an arduous mission as to clear our enemies for us has been completed by you!
“Right now, the ‘Empyrean Terminus Sect’, the greatest force of the Cultivators, as well as most of the remnants of the Cultivators, have been annihilated by you.
“The demon soldiers that are loyal to you suffered heavy casualties, too.
“This is the perfect occasion for the rise of the Ultimate One Demons. We are finally realizing our dream of uniting the universe. You should be greatly credited. Haha. Hahahaha!”
Ba Yanzhi’s face turned from pale into purple. He vomited a mouthful of blood. “You—you have even given up the heritage of the Ultimate One Sect? As the leader of the Ultimate One Sect, you are willing to turn from a Cultivator into a demon?”
“Don’t you understand? Cultivators have no future now!” the leader of the Ultimate One Sect sneered. “For thousands of years, the three thousand Sectors have been attacking each other, and all the spiritual energy and crystals are now running dry!
“Cultivation is based on the inhalation and exhalation of spiritual energy. What’s there to Cultivate if you don’t have spiritual energy?
“It is the reason the Cultivators’ training has been becoming more and more difficult and there have been fewer and fewer mortals whose spiritual root was awakened in the past thousand years!
“I remember that, four hundred years ago, when I first joined the Ultimate One Sect, even my least talented fellow disciples would be given five crystals monthly for their training. Also, because of the dense spiritual energy in the headquarters of the Ultimate One Sect, the speed of training was very fast. It was not unusual for one to advance into the next level after only a couple of years!
“However, by the time I became the leader of the Ultimate One Sect, the few mother lodes in our territory had all been emptied. Even the most talented disciples were offered only two crystals every month. As for the common disciple without impressive aptitude, they were given a scattered crystal the size of a peanut every three months. The density of the spiritual energy in our headquarters had become much thinner, too!
“Under such circumstances, even those who advanced into the next level every ten years were ‘prodigies’!
“That was the legendary ‘Era of Doom’.
“The Era of Doom is the end for the Cultivators. However talented and determined you are, without spiritual energy and crystals, your endeavor will only be in vain.
“You must adapt yourself in difficult times. In the Era of Doom, Cultivation is a dead end. We must find a new training system in order to survive.
“Whichever of the thousands of sects in the three thousand Sectors understood the logic would be able to move faster than others, and they would be the dominators of the universe!
“Hehe. As it turns out, it was us who understood the logic first!
“Drink the Divine Water of Kunlun and turn into demons. The focus of the training of demons is the minor universe inside their bodies so that they can trigger the force deep within. Their demand for natural spiritual energy is much smaller than Cultivators’.
“Besides, the three thousand Sectors have been wrecked by the Cultivators. In the harsh, blighted new worlds, demons have more advantages to survive!
“Therefore, in the Era of Doom that can potentially last tens of thousands of years, demons will certainly be the dominators of the three thousand Sectors.
“Maybe, after a long period of rest, the spiritual energy in the universe will become dense again, and crystals will be generated one more time. The Era of Doom will come to an end.
“By then, our descendants will naturally turn from demons into human beings again, and we will inherit and pass on the legacy of the righteous Ultimate One Sect!”
Ba Yanzhi did not know that the leader of the Ultimate One Sect had been thinking so far ahead, nor did he expect that he had been involved in the Ultimate One Sect’s scheme since a hundred years ago. He could barely stand on his feet now.
Right then, the shouts and yells on the ground were louder and louder. Another troop of demon soldiers with finely-made armors charged into the battlefield, with two words carved on their breastplates.
Ultimate One!
Ba Yanzhi shook hard and almost fell from the sky. He moaned in disbelief, “Xiao Changsheng, you’ve defected, too?”
“He hasn’t defected. Your deputy commander Xiao Changsheng has been with the Ultimate One Demons all the time!” the leader of the Ultimate One Sect said casually. “Yanzhi, do you know your biggest weakness?
“You are too innocent and naïve. You don’t know how to understand people.
“You always prefer to classify others according to their species. In the past, you thought that Cultivators were good and the demonic Cultivators were bad. Later, you thought that Cultivators were bad and demons were born good, kind, and righteous. So, you trusted and supported all the demons unconditionally and without a prejudice!
“As your leader in the past, and considering your contributions to our cause, I will give you one last lesson. You cannot divide people in such a way!
“There are no distinctions between humans and demons, deities and devils, Cultivators and demonic Cultivators!
“They are absolutely the same!
“There are only two kinds of people in the world—winners and losers!
“Of ten thousand people, there can only be one winner. The remaining 9,999 people are all losers!
“When we were Cultivators, I was the winner, and you and those ants were the losers.
“Right now, we are demons. I am still the winner, and you and the ants will be stomped on and end up being our servants, slaves, and cannon fodder again!
“One day, when the Era of Doom passes and demons turn back into human beings, we will still be winners, and you will still be grass, ants, and dust beneath our shoes. Do you believe it?
“Do you understand why you are wrong?
“The resources of the world are limited. If there are ten thousand people, it is already not bad if one of them can be fed. The remaining 9,999 people are destined to starve!
“But right now, you are trying to feed 9,999 people out of the ten thousand? Isn’t it the most hilarious dream?
“You’ve been living in that dream for a hundred years. Finally, you’ve woken up now. Any last words before your death?”
Ba Yanzhi staggered and waved his hands hard, as if he were trying to find a solid wall in the air to lean on. He breathed hard, with desperation leaking out of his every pore. He struggled to say, “But I don’t understand!
“The Divine Water of Kunlun can turn spiritual animals into demon beasts. Why didn’t you create an army of demon beasts to fight you instead of bringing disaster to the innocent ordinary people?”
The leader of the Ultimate One Sect smiled. “Animals are too stupid. It is not easy to control them even after they are modified into demon beasts.
“However, that is just an insignificant reason.
“The more important reason is that spiritual animals are too precious.
“Breeding a spiritual animal will consume a lot of time and effort. In a world where spiritual energy is running dry, herding spiritual animals is already extremely difficult. Isn’t it too wasteful to modify them into demon beasts?
“In the meantime, the lowborn are everywhere like wild grass. Isn’t it much more cost-effective and convenient to modify them than to work on the spiritual animals?”
Ba Yanzhi was more than infuriated and shocked. “Cost-effective? What are the lives of ordinary people in your eyes? Are they even no match for the spiritual animals?”
“Of course not,” the leader of the Ultimate One Sect remarked casually. “How can the ants and grass be compared to the divine birds and beasts?”
Chapter 922: Look for Kunlun! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The words slashed Ba Yanzhi right in the face like an invisible blade. He roared and pointed his broken saber at the leader of the Ultimate One Sect. “Wang Qianyi, I will show you the strength of the grass and ants!”
“I am not in a hurry to kill you. Why do you have to ask to be killed?” The leader of the Ultimate One Sect considered him as nothing more than a fish swimming in a cooker, not bothered by his fury at all. “Right now, there is no hope for you. However, considering your contributions to the Ultimate One Demons, I will give you one last opportunity.
“Abandon everything in your past and join the Ultimate One Demons!
“After all, the name of ‘Ba Yanzhi’ has some value among the demons. Under your name, the demons that are scattered in all the three thousand Sectors can be unified and will submit to the flag of ‘Ultimate One’ faster!
“Do not turn down the offer hastily. Look down. The demon soldiers loyal to you are being massacred, and their family in the rea will soon be controlled by the Ultimate One Demons, too. The life and death of those people all depend on your decision!”
Ba Yanzhi was dazed. His arm that clutched the broken saber was shaking slightly.
“Also…”
With a pair of mysterious eyes, the leader of the Ultimate One Sect said casually, “I know that you took away a stone back when you were exploring the mysterious black spring on the Infinite Planet. Hand the stone over to me, and I guarantee that all of your subordinates will be spared. It is even possible that I will give a few Sectors to you.”
Ba Yanzhi rolled his eyes and observed in a coarse voice, “So, you’ve known about the existence of the ‘Divine Stone of Kunlun’ all along! I remember it now. Ten years ago, somebody tried to assassinate me. At that time, I thought that they were sent by the Cultivators. But as I thought about it carefully later, I found that their target was not me but the ‘Divine Stone of Kunlun’!
“The assassins were sent by you, weren’t?
“I will trust you no more, Wang Qianyi!
“You think I don’t know the secret of the ‘Divine Stone of Kunlun’?
“The cave on the Infinite Planet was probably a relic of the Pangu Clan in the primeval era, and the black spring was also left by the Pangu Clan! The Divine Stone of Kunlun was a map of the Pangu Clan. Whoever unravels the secrets inside the Divine Stone of Kunlun will be able to set off to ‘Kunlun’, where they will find the real legacy of the Pangu Clan!
“You want to swindle me out of the Divine Stone of Kunlun? In your dreams!”
Ba Yanzhi burst into laughter. His shaking arm became as tough as iron again. He clenched the handle of the saber so hard that the skin on his palm broke. His blood vaporized into red steam and circled around the incomplete body of the saber, extending its aura to almost a hundred meters long before he slashed at the leader of the Ultimate One Sect!
The leader of the Ultimate One Sect kept his hands behind his back and did not dodge at all. The mystic rays that were flowing among his scales congregated into a raging dragon above his head that opened its bloody mouth and swallowed the bloody aura of blade that Ba Yanzhi triggered, leaving absolutely nothing.
“Capture him alive. We must elicit the whereabouts of the Divine Stone of Kunlun from him,” the leader of the Ultimate One Sect said casually.
However, a deafening explosion echoed below everyone’s feet. A gargantuan floating mountain, which had hidden in the ground deeply earlier, was now rising into the sky again and soon surpassed everyone’s head!
Li Yao observed carefully, only to discover that there was a bull-headed, muscular man more than ten meters tall below the floating mountain.
The bull-headed muscular man pushed up a floating mountain that must have weighed thousands of tons by force with his magnificent arms and even soared into the sky!
The crazy action drained the energy of every mitochondria inside his every cells. Every inch of his skin was exploding, as if fireworks of blood were blossoming on his body.
The floating mountain turned into an unstoppable warship, and he turned into the spurting exhaust flames of the warship!
“Zhang Niuer!”
Ba Yanzhi was shocked, his tears flowing out.
Hiu!
The bull-headed muscular man broke apart all of a sudden, turning into a cluster of bloody fire. The immense impetus pushed the floating mountain into a shooting star that darted toward the Ultimate One Demons brutally.
Before his body crumbled, Zhang Niuer finally recovered his speech, which had been confined for a hundred years. He roared in a voice that could split the sky and the earth, “Big brother, go now!”
The floating mountain rocketed at a high speed, triggering flames that looked like red lotuses. The flames dyed the black and white world red and eventually burnt the cold, cruel illusionary world into ashes.
In nothingness, Li Yao sensed that many telepathic thoughts were flashing fast. Ba Yanzhi had come to the end of his life. It was his last memory piece.
The new illusionary world was… the underground temple in the Mausoleum of Chaos!
However, it seemed to be a time when the Mausoleum of Chaos had just been built. At least, the statue of the member of the Pangu Clan at the center of the temple was not there, and the scale of the temple was not as impressive as the present day.
The place was indeed an enormous war base. Countless demon soldiers were busy at work inside the temple. Out of his expectations, Li Yao saw a lot of Cultivators on the spot, too.
Perhaps, under the pressure of the Ultimate One Demons, the mortal enemies in the past had been left with no choice except to collaborate with each other now.
Ba Yanzhi was no longer as sharp and magnificent as he had been in the previous illusionary worlds.
He was already very old. His beard and hair, which used to protrude out, were now dangling down from his forehead and chin like weeds that had dried up.
His body was no longer brawny and turned into a mere skeleton, with wrinkled skin attached to it in multiple layers, which made him both ugly and look sleazy. His left arm and left leg had completely vanished. However, the wounds had not recovered but were enveloped in purple venomous fog, indicating that he had been suffering from the pain of corrosion.
But his back was still as straight as a spear, just like a hundred years ago!
Ba Yanzhi was sitting cross-legged on a complicated, enormous array, surrounded by colorful, octagonal spiritual stripes. He was holding a vintage wooden bowl that was filled with a deep, green liquid.
There was nothing to heat the bowl, but the bowl seemed to be boiling, with bubbles popping up nonstop.
“Great General, you can’t take it!”
One of the weasel-like demon soldiers was trying to talk him out of it.
“Green General, you have been experimented on with different formulas of the Divine Water of Kunlun countless times in the past hundred years. Your body is deformed and in an utter mess. We cannot determine how many impurities are inside your blood even when all of us analyze it together!
“The latest Divine Water of Kunlun was produced by mixing the raw Divine Water of Kunlun with almost a hundred types of poison. It is a by-product in a perilous accident!
“We have experimented on the ‘Thunder Mammoths’ that weighed dozens of tons with the liquid, with more failures than successes. Some of the Thunder Mammoths were indeed modified into more terrifying beasts, but the majority of them were killed on the spot!
“Great General, you cannot take such a ferocious medicine randomly! Should there be anything wrong, your body will be destroyed, and your cause will be no more!
“Great General, please think about it carefully!”
“I’ve made up my mind,” Ba Yanzhi replied calmly and resolutely. “We’ve finally got rid of the pursuit of the Ultimate One Demons after so much trouble and fled to this place. We are so close to the real ‘Kunlun’. I cannot allow our endeavor to be sabotaged because of my insufficient strength.
“Strength. I need more strength!
“Only after we find ‘Kunlun’ can we expect to compete with the Ultimate One Demons, to avenge our families, and to… take back the entire universe!”
Ba Yanzhi raised his head and drank all the simmering green liquid.
The spiritual stripes that were dancing around him suddenly accelerated. The runes all shone and shot into his body rapidly.
After each rune that entered his body, Ba Yanzhi’s eyes would become slightly larger. His dried body was being filled up again. His bones were expanding inch by inch, tearing apart his skin, healing it, tearing it apart again, and healing it again!
“Hoooooooooo!”
Inhuman roars echoed from Ba Yanzhi’s expanding chest. The entire process of evolution that took billions of years seemed to be played backwards on his body fast.
At first, his canine teeth protruded out, and golden hair grew all over his body. He turned into an enormous ape more than ten meters tall.
His body continued expanding, with dense bone spurs extending out of his skull and his spine, shining coldly like the sharpest sabers. Then, his hair disappeared, his skin was replaced by thick hide, his hands turned into spiky claws, his head was twisted, and his bloody mouth was enlarged with dense tusks protruding.
Eventually, two huge bones pierced out of his shoulder blades and continuously grew. Two layers of bright green membranes grew out of the bones, turning them into two massive wings.
Feathers, wings, claws, tails, antlers… After displaying the features of almost a hundred different ferocious beasts, he was even showing the fins and the characteristics of certain shellfish.
Li Yao clearly sensed that Ba Yanzhi was going further and further down the path of ‘atavism’.
Maybe at the beginning, he had still been able to tame his genes and only reveal the features of apes, smilodons, or tyrannosaurs. But very soon, the force went out of his control as he assumed the appearance of the sarcosuchus, iron turtles, and nautilus.
Ba Yanzhi was returning to the beginning point of evolution and the original form of all life.
In the end, he turned into a cluster of a thick, translucent liquid that looked like glue, with materials shining in the middle like stars.
Maybe, this was the real appearance of ‘Chaos’ in the legends.
For some reason, Li Yao recalled the chaotic-blood demon on the Skeleton Island whose genes completely collapsed because of the strengthening drugs overdose.
Perhaps he was not killed, either; he was simply back to the original point of evolution.
The demons and Cultivators nearby were all greatly shocked, but there was nothing they could do about the translucent fluid.
A moment later, the cluster of fluid wriggled slowly and condensed into the shape of a human being one more time. Arms, feet, and facial organs gradually appeared, too. Ba Yanzhi resumed his appearance from his peak years. He was even more perfect than that time, with the dominating aura resembling that of the Ultimate One Demons flowing around him before.
“Great General, you’ve made it!”
All the demons were overjoyed.
“Yes. I’ve made it!”
Ba Yanzhi’s eyelids suddenly twitched, and he seemed to be collapsing into fluid again. However, he stopped the trend hard with his unbelievable tenacity.
He observed his hands that were full of strength carefully, and he grinned.
“Let’s go and find ‘Kunlun’!”
Chapter 923: Original Point of Evolution! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The scene was slowly frozen in the echo of ‘Kunlun’.
Then, it was the last illusionary world.
Li Yao’s soul appeared in the secret chamber more than twenty thousand meters below the ground that could block radiation and spiritual waves, and he was staring at the thick fluid inside the crystal pool in midair.
The fluid seemed to be a quiet ocean that boasted its own self-awareness. Now and then, a tiny spindrift would be raised, and thousands of telepathic thoughts would spurt out.
The telepathic thoughts formed bright gold, dotted lines in midair. When the lines connected, brilliants stars were formed. The number of stars grew larger and larger, expanding into one galaxy after another.
It was a star map, one that was meant to guide the latecomers to find Kunlun.
BOOM!
As billions of stars flooded into Li Yao’s brain as if a dam had collapsed, the explosive force immediately blew him out of the memory pieces of Ba Yanzhi and pushed him back to the depths of the White Silver Death Desert.
He was illuminated by various colors, as if he were crouching inside an enormous egg made of glass.
While Li Yao was in the deep meditative state, intense streams of heat were emitted from his body without him knowing. The high temperature melted the sand and generated such a weird ‘eggshell’.
“Ugh—”
Cold sweat was popping up of his forehead nonstop, and he was shaking. The gory scenes of war were still flashing in front of his eyes, with the echoes of shouts and yells.
He did not calm down again until he breathed steadily for a whole minute.
He had never had such experience after he forming the ultimate core!
Clutching the Hidden Star Box that looked like a crystal brain, Li Yao felt stunned.
Although he had guessed that demons and human beings might have shared the same origin, he had never thought that the truth would be so cruel and unpredictable!
There are no distinctions between humans and demons, deities and devils. There are only winners and losers!
The hideous laughter of the leader of the Ultimate One Sect was still echoing right beside his ears. He could not help but bite his lips hard until his hot blood was flowing out.
So, this is the truth.
Li Yao rubbed his face hard and quickly sorted through everything that happened forty thousand years ago.
First of all, Ba Yanzhi was indeed ‘Chaos’ and the creator of the demon race, but his ‘creation’ was quite coincidental.
Ba Yanzhi used to be merely the manager of the Infinite Planet for the Ultimate One Sect. The Infinite Planet was just a remote, barren, and underdeveloped planet in the territory of the Ultimate One Sect.
Judging from Ba Yanzhi’s demeanor, he could not have been very popular in the Ultimate One Sect. Apparently, nobody liked him, and it was sort of a banishment to assign him to the Infinite Planet.
However, as it turned out, Ba Yanzhi discovered a relic of the Pangu Clan on the Infinite Planet, where there was a black spring and a mysterious stone that were left by the Pangu Clan.
Li Yao did not know what was on Ba Yanzhi’s mind at that time. Whatever his purpose was in the beginning, he had kept the stone to himself.
Later, it was the time of war. The water of the black spring boasted the marvelous effect of curing the incurable, despite the side effect of growing horns, tails, and dense hair. Left with no other choice, Ba Yanzhi was forced to promote it on the Infinite Planet and created the first batch of ‘demons’.
Li Yao did not know how he should comment on Ba Yanzhi’s action, but he put himself in Ba Yanzhi’s shoes. If one of his family members was heavily wounded, and it was the only way to treat them, he was afraid that he would have resorted to the medication, too.
Human beings. What are human beings? If a thing has the soul of a human being but a completely different shell, are they human beings, too?
The question had once raised heated debates in the history of the Star Glory Federation, when the rights of the ‘spectral Cultivators’ were being acknowledged.
The spectral Cultivators were a whole new life form that was the combination of the soul of human beings and artificial bodies. The artificial body was not necessarily the shape of a human being. Back when Li Yao was in the Star Glory Federation, he had a good friend named ‘Wei Qingqing’. After she turned into a spectral Cultivator, she had always been fond of flying everywhere in the appearance of a ‘green bird’.
In the ancient times, when the ‘spectral Cultivators’ were mentioned, one’s first impression would often be the haunting, hateful poltergeists.
But things were different in the Star Glory Federation. During the unceasing war against the demon race, many soldiers of the federal army had been killed on the battlefield. As the drugs and magical equipment such as ‘Soul Manifesting Powder’ and ‘Soul Concentration Gear’ were applied, more and more soldiers were saved in the form of their souls.
For the soldiers who had ‘sacrificed’ for their country, it was naturally inappropriate to regard their souls as ‘hateful poltergeists’.
In the history of federation, after decades of debates, the advocates of souls had won the argument in the end.
From then on, the law dictated that all objects with the soul of a human being, regardless of what they looked like, would be considered human beings. Legally speaking, they would all be treated as ‘natural people’ equally.
After a hundred years of development, citizens of the federation had become very used to the spectral Cultivators. Prejudice or distress could be rarely seen. Ding Yin, Wei Qingqing, Professor Mo Xuan, and many other Cultivators who had turned into spectral Cultivators after they died were able to contribute to the civilization of mankind in their new bodies!
But what if their bodies were not artificial bodies made of crystals and metals but bizarre-looking biochemical shells whose cells had been modified on a large scale?
Could the souls who resided in such bodies be called human beings?
The problem was too tricky for Li Yao to answer at that moment.
However, whether they were human beings or not, in the eyes of the ancient Cultivators who were short of soldiers because of the prolonged war, the mutants who had drank the ‘Divine Water of Kunlun’ were clearly the best slaves and soldiers.
For the keenest Cultivators, such as those of the Ultimate One Sect, they even realized the difficulty of training in the Era of Doom and simply turned themselves into demons, too!
Maybe, the Ultimate One Demons were the ancestors of the saint-blood demons and the silver-blood demons later, and the majority of the ordinary people, or rather, the ants in their words, ended up being the bronze-blood demons and the black-blood demons?
The scheme of the Ultimate One Sect succeeded. In the Era of Doom, when the spiritual energy was running dry, demons were indeed a new species that were more adaptive to the harshness of the universe than the Cultivators were. Swept by the flag of the bloody demon, the world of Cultivators fell apart and was entirely wiped out in the end.
In the heaven-splitting final battle, Ba Yanzhi’s demon army and the Empyrean Terminus Sect, the last survivors of the world of Cultivators, both suffered heavy casualties, and the Ultimate One Demons stole the fruit of victory without the least effort!
However, the Ultimate One Demons did not see one thing coming.
Not only did Ba Yanzhi get away, he had also discovered the secrets of the ‘Divine Stone of Kunlun’.
“Kunlun. What is Kunlun exactly?” Li Yao mumbled to himself.
In the legends, Kunlun and Penglai were two divine mountains in the primeval era where the ancient sages lived.
However, in the deepest part of his cells, from the memory of his ancestors of the primeval era, Li Yao had seen a few enormous starships whose names were ‘Kunlun’ and ‘Penglai’.
If Kunlun is the name of a starship left by the Pangu Clan, everything will make sense.
In the primeval era, the Pangu Clan had a base on the Infinite Planet. They left a few gifts in the place, including the ‘Divine Water of Kunlun’ and the ‘Divine Stone of Kunlun’, which contained the coordinates of a ‘Kunlun Warship’.
Maybe, they left the ‘Divine Water of Kunlun’ in the hope that, when the creatures on the Infinite Planet grew certain wisdom, they would drink the water of the black spring and accelerate their evolution so that they could find the ‘Kunlun Warship’ and the legacies of the Pangu Clan.
Whatever the purpose of the black spring was, Ba Yanzhi, who had lost everything, could only take his chances. Leading a batch of remnants, he followed the star map inside the Divine Stone of Kunlun and finally reached a place that was very close to the ‘Kunlun Warship’, which was here, the Blood Demon Sector!
However, after he made his way here, Ba Yanzhi’s body was already extremely weak. It was impossible for him to lead a new adventure.
At the last moment of his life, he drank a type of brand-new, highly-modified ‘Divine Water of Kunlun’. More ‘primeval cells’ inside his body were triggered, allowing him to advance into the highest level. But problems had been left, too!
Later, his exploration must’ve succeeded, at least during the first time. He really found ‘Kunlun’ and managed to excavate the remains of the enormous body of the Pangu Clan from ‘Kunlun’.
It is not hard to imagine that he also retrieved a lot of legacies of the Pangu Clan from ‘Kunlun’ together with the remains!
Later, he studied the legacies at the center of the White Silver Death Desert below the Star Swallowing Sea, hoping to find a way to defeat the Ultimate One Demons. He also created countless dangerous biochemical weapons!
Li Yao suddenly realized why Ba Yanzhi had chosen to establish his base in such a desolate, unpopulated place.
It was because Ba Yanzhi had been studying the most contagious, lethal stuff. Only the depths of the Star Swallowing Sea surrounded by the White Silver Death Deserver where no creatures could survive was secure enough!
In such a place, even if there was an accident, the venomous gas and poison would not affect the outside world!
As it turned out, accidents did take place later.
At first, it was not the leakage of venomous fog or poison but that Ba Yanzhi’s body could not hold it together any longer.
He had triggered too many primeval cells. The ‘genetic locks’ that controlled his body had all been shattered, forcing him to return to the original point of life and turn into a pool of thick fluid.
Maybe, that was why he was addressed as Chaos.
No nose, no mouth, no hands, no feet, and not a hole on his body. Were they the descriptions for Chaos in the ancient legends?
However, Ba Yanzhi, who was in the form of Chaos, had not died yet. His unbelievable resolution supported the fire of his life to continue burning. He went on carrying out his research, and he saved his life story, the truth of the birth of the demon race, and the primeval star map that marked the location of Kunlun inside the Hidden Star Box.
Perhaps, his research could have succeeded, and Ba Yanzhi’s subordinates who had received a lot of legacies of the Pangu Clan had their chances to defeat the Ultimate One Demons.
But an expected accident suddenly destroyed the entire base. A certain weird virus spread out in the enclose base unstoppably, triggering even crazier mutations inside the bodies of the Cultivators and the demons, who killed each other until none were left.
At last, the branch of demons under Ba Yanzhi’s command was buried deep inside the great desert of a remote world along with all their secrets.
As for Ba Yanzhi himself, he was addressed by the rulers of the following era, the winners, as Chaos and vilified as a dreadful destroyer!
Chapter 924: The Only Hope! ###
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Li Yao could not even begin to imagine how sorrowful, painful, and desperate Ba Yanzhi must have been when his cells crumbled, turning him into a pool of dirty ‘gene soup’, and was forced to hide twenty thousand meters below ground without access to sunlight for the rest of his life.
Just the thought of such a miserable future was enough to drive someone crazy.
Even so, Ba Yanzhi did not give up resistance. He carved the feelings when he drank the ‘Divine Water of Kunlun’ of different formulas on the wall of the secret chamber, hoping to give some enlightenment to the latecomers.
When the Nether World Watch was scanning the tiny letters, Li Yao had taken the opportunity to study all the content and commit it to memory.
Ba Yanzhi’s writing style had the distinctive feature of the ancient Cultivators. Modern demons and Cultivators might not have understood what he was talking about, but Li Yao could see through it after a quick glance.
Also, right now, he had received the legacy of Ba Yanzhi’s memory pieces and perceived a lot of new things from Ba Yanzhi’s lifelong story.
It is a pity that Senior Ba Yanzhi failed to witness the success of his cause!
Li Yao had mixed feelings. His thoughts flew back to somewhere far, far away.
After Ba Yanzhi turned into ‘Chaos’, he had clearly continued his rebellion and caused a lot of trouble for the Ultimate One Demons.
According to the history books of the Star Glory Federation, forty thousand years ago, after the world of Cultivators collapsed, to fight for the control over the three thousand Sectors, the demons had a civil war that lasted hundreds of years.
The ancient ferocious demon ‘Skeleton Dragon’ that Li Yao met on Boneyard was one of the competitors at the time.
Now that he thought of it, the so-called civil war could have been the competition between the ‘Chaos Demons’ and the ‘Ultimate One Demons’. Judging from the appearance of Skeleton Dragon, it was most likely a general of the ‘Chaos Demons’ or the ‘Ultimate One Demons’, or even an extremely powerful, experimental weapon that had gone out of control and grown independent self-awareness for some reason, say, the destruction of the ‘Chaos Demons’.
After Ba Yanzhi perished, the Ultimate One Demons secured the final victory of the civil war. They established an enormous Demon Beast Empire and ruled over the sea of stars for thirty thousand years in the Era of Doom when the spiritual energy was low.
During the long time, the Ultimate One Demons gradually evolved into the saint-blood demons and the silver-blood demons, who continued living their extravagant, aristocratic lives. The mortals in the past, on the other hand, were modified into bronze-blood demons and black-blood demons, and they asked to mine, farm, and fight.
When the system developed to the highest point, the Pantheon of Demons and the ‘Four Pillars System’ were founded. It was claimed that the social class of every demon was destined and unchangeable. The saint-blood demons would always be saint-blood demons, and it was their natural privilege to enjoy their life. The black-blood demons would always be black-blood demons, and being enslaved was their eternal fate that nobody could defy!
However, a lie was always a lie. No matter how different they appeared to be, they were human beings to their bones. They were human beings who were showing different features of the cell because of genetic modification.
Therefore, the demons of different social classes could mate and give birth to offspring. Due to the different genetic features inside the body of the offspring, it was possible that the original appearance of the cells was restored. It was even possible that higher strength that did not belong to them was activated, thereby exposing the lies of the saint-blood demons and threatening their reign.
It was why the ‘hybrids’ were called ‘chaotic-blood demons’ and were despised as the filthiest lowborn, the ‘untouchable’!
Such a reign is really dreadful. Too dreadful!
Li Yao’s chest was heaving. The history of the past forty thousand years condensed into a sharp longsword and cut apart the bafflements inside his brain, but a new question occurred to him.
Are the saint-blood demons really extinct?
The history books of both the Star Glory Federation and the Flying Star Sector stated that, after the Star Ocean Imperium was established, the Supreme Emperor led an enormous army and marched through the universe, executing all the saint-blood demons in the worlds that he passed and eventually wiping out all the saint-blood demons!
But right now, Li Yao had new doubts.
As the saying goes, even a rotten boat will have several useful nails. The saint-blood demons ruled over the sea of stars for thirty thousand years and collected the wealth of all the three thousand Sectors. There was bound to be a huge amount of resources.
Despite the change of dynasties, the astronomical wealth and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were unlikely to vanish into thin air!
With such enormous resources in their possession, there were certain unlimited experts among the saint-blood demons. How come the saint-blood demons failed to resist at all when the Star Ocean Imperium rose and suffered such crushing defeats when the Supreme Emperor united the universe in only several hundred years?
Is it possible—
Li Yao thought of a terrifying possibility and was immediately frightened.
Is it possible that the Cultivators of the Ultimate One Sect in the beginning, the Ultimate One Demons later, and the saint-blood demons in the end, were not wiped out at all?
Just as the leader of the Ultimate One Set said, forty thousand years ago, it was the Era of Doom when the spiritual energy was dry. The old methods of training and the outdated life form were no long fit for the environment. Only by evolving into a brand-new form and adopting a new training system could they expect to survive in a harsh world where there was little spiritual energy and resources!
After a rest of more than thirty thousand years, the spiritual energy in the universe was getting dense again. Also, the wastelands caused by the wars of the ancient Cultivators were revived by the black-blood demons at the cost of countless lives.
Naturally, the rulers needed another evolution to change into a life form that was more suitable for the new world!
Therefore, the saint-blood demons did not go extinct at all. They merely thought that the potential of the ‘demons’ had been fully exploited and that they were no longer used to the environment. Therefore, like caterpillars breaking out of their cocoons, they turned into human beings again, or perhap, an even stronger life form!
It is quite plausible on second thought.
The rise of the Star Ocean Imperium was too fast and brief. Its heyday lasted for only a hundred years before the nation crumbled after a failed expedition. Also, there were too many uncanny facts about the great expedition that could not be explained.
Who can say that the saint-blood demons were not fanning the flames?
Maybe, the chaotic world after the Star Ocean Imperium collapsed was the best culture dish for the ‘evolution’ of the saint-blood demons!
In the universe today, although the saint-blood demons are no more, the ‘winners’ according to the leader of the Ultimate One Sect are still there. Are the doings of the Immortal Cultivators of the Imperium of True Human Beings any different from the saint-blood demons?
For a moment, the leader of the Ultimate One Demons who was wearing the armor of dragon scales and the image of Xiao Xuance gradually melded into one. They were both laughing gloatingly toward Li Yao.
There are no distinctions between humans and demons, deities and devils. There are only winners and losers!
You are all ants!
Li Yao felt that the blood over all his body was spurting up toward his head from which a spring seemed to be bursting out. Feeling choked, he bellowed and jerked up, jumping out of the sand that was almost ten meters deep in only one leap!
Hu!
Lying on the desert, Li Yao stretched out his limbs and looked up at the night sky.
The universe was as boundless as ever, and the bloody moon was shining hideously.
Maybe, in the depths of the boundless universe, the Ultimate One Demons in the past had already established enormous forces that might have different appearances but in fact believed in the same ideology to their bones!
Maybe, such forces were swallowing the stars and contaminating the universe like cancer!
Li Yao watched and thought in silence, with equally scorching flames burning in his eyes that were two different colors.
He suddenly stood up and placed the crystal brain that stored Ba Yanzhi’s billions of telepathic thoughts on the desert squarely. He suddenly kneeled down and bowed toward the Hidden Star Box respectfully.
Li Yao did not know why he did it.
Perhaps, it was for Ba Yanzhi’s hilarious dream, the fantasy that 9,999 people out of ten thousand could have enough food instead of one!
“Senior Ba, thank you. I finally know what I should do right now under your enlightenment,” Li Yao mumbled to himself. The bouncing flames inside his eyes were gradually condensed into sharp brilliance.
“Since many innocent ordinary people were fooled into turning into demons forty thousand years ago, and now that the universe is much more stable, with denser spiritual energy and a less harsh environment, I will help the ordinary people restore their original appearances now that the Era of Doom is over!
“Since Jin Xinyue could turn from a demon into a human being, so can the other demons!
“Aside from the silver-blood demons who are proud of their noble bloodlines, I cannot tolerate a human being modified into mouthless, mindless giant insects creeping on the ground!”
Taking a long breath, Li Yao was making plans solemnly, but his eyes suddenly froze.
Wait. A bloody moon?
I have stayed in this place for twelve hours!
Li Yao almost jumped up to his feet.
He had only planned to get a general idea of what was stored inside the Hidden Star Box. He did not expect that the power of the Hidden Star Box would be so high that he was kept in the deep meditative state for the entire day.
He was wondering what was happening right now to Elder Nether Spring and the Fire Ant King.
Li Yao immediately thought of something related to Elder Nether Spring.
He finally understood what Elder Nether Spring was going through all that trouble for.
Elder Nether Spring was not a historian. The truth of the origin of the demon race was not worth the power and investment he had dedicated to the cause at all.
What he was looking for was the star map leading to ‘Kunlun’!
Elder Nether Spring’s purpose is the Kunlun Warship. He wants to have the Kunlun Warship and believes that the Kunlun Warship can help him realize the rise of ‘the third life form’!
Li Yao’s body felt hot, and his mouth was dry. According to the memory pieces of Ba Yanzhi, the Kunlun Warship was exactly buried, or collapsed, somewhere in the Blood Demon Sector.
Even if it was not on the planet below his feet, it had to be somewhere in the planets, satellites, or world fragments that were close to the Blood Demon Planet!
Judging from the research projects inside the Mausoleum of Chaos, there were indeed a lot of mysteries hidden in the Kunlun Warship, many of which were far more advanced than the technology of the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, and the Flying Star Sector.
Before, I only wanted to end the war between the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector as quickly as possible and focus our strength on the vanguard of the Imperium of True Human Beings.
However, considering the formidability of the ‘star child’, even the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, and the Flying Star Sector combined might not be a match for the vanguard of the Imperium of True Human Beings.
Even if we defeat the vanguard miraculously, we will still be dead for sure when the expedition fleet of the Imperium of True Human Beings comes in a hundred years!
Kunlun! Kunlun is our only hope!
I must find Kunlun!
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