Forty Millenniums of Cultivation - Chapter 975
Chapter 975: Blow Up a Devilish Warship!
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
What—what the heck!
Within his crystal suit, Li Yao’s face was almost the color of spinach right now.
Was the coalition army of demons so well-trained now that they had seen through his infiltration but deliberately let him in to trap himself inside the camp?
That was too horrifying!
Li Yao sensed the enormous demonic energy spreading out above his heart, as if the sky was boiling. It was a sign that the ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship was driving at full speed.
The ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship was a model designed to suppress ground troops. A great cannon that could shoot out demon fire, acid, and infrasonic waves simultaneously had been grown below the head of the warship. Even an expert in the Nascent Soul Stage would need to dodge the bombardment!
Exclamations, screams, explosions. Everything was a complete mess!
Right when he was cursing and gritting his teeth, prepared to march out, he suddenly realized that he was not the target of the chaos.
Neltharion, which was floating above the warehouse of crystals, noticed a streak of brightness that soared from an enormous tent and rushed toward the southwest.
It was an… Core Formation Stage Cultivator!
At this moment, there would not be a second ‘Core Formation Stage Cultivator’ in Void Turmoil City other than Jin Xinyue.
The Core Formation Stage Cultivator unleashed tremendous spiritual waves and broke the sonic barrier, passing through the sky like a supersonic shuttle. Naturally, the coalition army noticed the anomaly immediately. That was why the entire military camp was in a riot.
Not only did all the soldiers of the Feather Clan activate their flight techniques to block the enemy, even the ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship was also turned on immediately and chased after her.
Li Yao could hardly refrain himself from punching a hole in the wall. What was Jin Xinyue doing exactly? Did she not claim to be a well-trained saintess of the Pantheon of Demons, who were best at stealth, assassination, infiltration, and ambushes?
Why did she expose herself right in front of the eyes of the coalition army of demons?
Everything was screwed!
A Core Formation Stage Cultivator had appeared in Void Turmoil City right under the nose of a hundred thousand soldiers of the coalition army of demons. Could it be any more thrilling?
He would have to find out the answer to the question after he rescued Jin Xinyue.
Thankfully, the immense spiritual waves that she released attracted the attention of all the demons in the military camp. The ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship and the Feather Clan had both been summoned to chase after her, which gave Li Yao a chance to take action more openly.
The newly-captured civilians had been panicking in the first place. With the fuss that Jin Xinyue caused, they were all shouting and running about like headless chickens, distracting the attention of the Death Sickle Tarantula and the ground troops.
Other demons are easy to fix. The key is the ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship!
The shell of the devilish warship of such a level is embedded with more than twenty biochemical eyes that originated from the large squids. It will be practically impossible to get away once I am locked onto by them!
I have to destroy the devilish warship!
A crystal suit versus a warship!
Back in the Heaven’s Origin Sector, during the ultimate test on the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Li Yao had snuck into a crystal warship and controlled the entire bridge.
But right now, it was obvious that he could not infiltrate the ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship. He would have to destroy the devilish warship in a head-on battle.
In the siege of so many enemies, he only had one shot. He had to destroy it in one attack!
Li Yao took a deep breath. The environment nearby that he surveyed just now overlapped with the structural designs of Void Turmoil City, and he came up with plans to destroy the warship one after another.
Difficult. It was too difficult!
His target was a devilish warship that was almost a thousand meters long and boasted a powerful shield of demonic energy and a shell of biochemical skeletons. Even the full-strength strike of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator might not be enough to completely deprive the warship of all its combat ability unless he was unbelievably lucky to hit a critical part such as the arsenal.
What should I do?
Li Yao panted anxiously. Then, he suddenly moved his eyes to the crystals stored in the warehouse.
The mediocre crystals contained too many impurities and were highly unstable. They might burn or explode when they were touched.
What if…
Li Yao’s eyes were glittering as he came up with a crazy idea.
He closed his hands and rubbed them. Five Cosmos Rings appeared in his palm and collected all the crystals!
One minute passed.
The entire military camp was seething because of the appearance of a Core Formation Stage Cultivator. Everybody was paying attention to the Cultivator who had shown up out of nowhere.
Later, exclamations were echoing nonstop. A commander of the military camp seemed to have been killed by Jin Xinyue, which raised an even larger riot.
In such chaos, there was suddenly a blind angle in the defense system. With vague demonic energy spreading out of his body, Li Yao easily escaped out of the military camp with the aid of Neltharion from above.
Jin Xinyue was still on the run. The city was surrounded by troops. Having no choice, she could only dash to the debris at the center of the city.
The troops of the coalition army nearby were all informed of the arrival of a Cultivator. They joined the search and chased after her.
Li Yao had to destroy the ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship before the main troops arrived!
Shua!
He turned into a streak of blackness and marched to the depths of Void Turmoil City.
With the Child-Mother Heart Connecting Ring, he could basically locate or even predict Jin Xinyue’s whereabouts. Accelerating to the highest speed, he stopped in the front of Jin Xinyue on the way that she would inevitably pass and found a tree skyscraper almost a hundred meters tall.
It was a lookout tower.
Li Yao blinked and appeared in the branches at the top of the tree skyscraper like smoke.
On the branches that were as thick as overpasses, three fat demons were crouching.
Their bellies were as huge as drums, and their mouthparts had evolved into the shape of syringes, which allowed them to shoot out venomous needles at a supersonic speed. They were natural-born lethal snipers.
When Li Yao dashed to the top of the tree, they were all waiting patiently for the arrival of Jin Xinyue. Their hollowed mouthparts had locked onto Jin Xinyue in advance, and their bellies were rising up in greenish colors while the venom was being secreted and congregated.
They reacted quite fast. The moment that Li Yao reached the top of the tree, they turned around and spurted out green venom at twice the speed of sound, aiming for the critical parts on Li Yao’s body!
Li Yao narrowed his eyes so hard that his pupils almost broke apart. Black liquid was released from the depths of his pupils and contaminated the entire eyeballs, making his eyes even more deep and mysterious!
The combination of the overwhelming demonic energy and spiritual energy produced an extremely tensile and yet indestructible shield that froze all the venomous needles in midair.
The three snipers were all dumbfounded when they discovered that their venom had been halted in midair.
Li Yao sniffed and released his energy. The dozens of venomous needles were blown backward at a speed more than three times the speed of sound and riddled the three unprepared snipers with holes.
They all collapsed.
The body of one of the snipers even fell off from the branches and landed in front of Jin Xinyue.
Jin Xinyue had lost her cool already. She was sweating hard, and her nerves had tightened. Caught unprepared by the body falling from the sky, she stopped briefly.
The ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship immediately locked onto her.
Dazzling brilliance was beaming out of the barrel of the main gun of the devilish warship, and visible ripples of demonic energy was spreading!
Not far away from the ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship, under the cover of the branches and leaves, Li Yao was on one of his knees. He raised his left arm, which was like a cannonball that had been uncoated. The living cells that enveloped the crystal suit condensed into translucent bone spurs and scales and triggered astounding electric arcs in the high-speed vibrations!
He opened his fingers, and his crystal suit split apart. A crystal the size of an egg popped up from his palm. The biochemical energy that he had earned at the cost of tremendous cells melded with the spiritual energy that was transmitted to the front end of his arm by the super-compressed crystal reactor through the tubes, as if two overwhelming rivers had joined together, raging, roaring, and simmering!
The Cell Obliteration Cannon might not have been enough to blow up a devilish warship. However—
Li Yao’s right hand picked up three Cosmos Rings, all of which had been fully loaded with the low-quality, unstable crystals that he had just looted and the extremely powerful crystal bombs that he had refined earlier!
The Cell Obliteration Cannon was activated at almost the same time as the main gun of the ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship.
The moment before they were launched, however, Li Yao snapped the three Cosmos Rings out and shot them toward the devilish warship with his spiritual energy and telepathic thoughts!
The retrieval rune arrays of the three Cosmos Rings had all been activated, with a timer set to half a second later!
Shua!
The three Cosmos Rings were hurled above the devilish warship in an elegant curve before all the retrieval rune arrays were activated.
Crystals weighing almost five tons were released from the Cosmos Rings and smashed the devilish warship overwhelmingly like a landslide.
Five hundred billion times, super crystal Cell Obliteration Cannon!
Li Yao uttered a deafening roar. From the deepest part of his marrow to his internal organs, from his internal organs to every bit of his flesh and blood on his limbs, along with the living cells on the surface of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, everything was burning at the maximum rate!
The mitochondria unleashed devastating demonic energy like a supernova outbreak, as if a black volcano had suddenly risen up. The burning flame turned the giant tree, which was almost a hundred meters tall, into a stunning torch!
In the moment, Li Yao became the center of demonic energy in Void Turmoil City!
BOOM!
Focused by the super crystal at the center of his palm, the energy generated by the burning mitochondria condensed into a cluster of crimson brilliance, which bombarded the ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship like a roaring dragon!
Almost at the same moment, the tons of crystals released from the Cosmos Rings were detonated. Like an invisible hammer, they blew up the devilish warship’s shield of demonic energy. The blast was so tremendous that the entire devilish warship dropped down a little bit!
It was the terrifying power that equal to the explosion of an entire warehouse of crystals!
Without the blockage of the shield of demonic energy, the crimson brilliance went forward unstoppably and hit the devilish warship’s main gun, which was being triggered at the highest efficiency.
The collision of the two immense blasts caused a crimson hurricane mixed with purple electric arcs. Together with the explosion of tons of crystals, the shell at the front of the warship was finally pierced through. The blasts swept across the bridge like a tsunami and triggered a chain reaction, leading to a series of explosions right inside the devilish warship!
Chapter 976: Teleportation House
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The devilish warship turned into a giant caterpillar of fireballs, writhing violently and crashing from the sky!
The intense blast that the collision enshrouded the debris in the surrounding thousand kilometers in dust and smoke. Flames were spreading out over the flying stones and dead bodies. It was indeed the scene of the end of the world!
Jin Xinyue was blown almost a hundred meters away by the airwave. Her face pale, she stared at the debris of the warship, startled.
To this moment, she still found it difficult to believe her eyes.
A devilish warship designed to suppress ground targets had been shot down by a certain powerful weapon?
The weapon had pierced through the devilish warship’s shield of demonic energy. The source of the attack, on the other hand, was emitting out a torrent of demonic energy that felt like a flood.
She had only sensed demonic energy of the same level from her father before.
What kind of expert is this?
Blood was leaking out of Jin Xinyue’s nostrils, ears, and eyes at the same time. Her internal organs seemed to have been stomped on by galloping horses, too. She felt that her throat was stuffed, and yet she did not dare to cough, fearing that she might throw out her broken internal organs if she did.
Behind her, a search team of the coalition army was stunned by the blast, too. Everybody’s brain was shaking rapidly within their skull, rendering them unable to react.
Looking at the burning traces in midair in a daze, they felt that they had to be hallucinating, Everybody was shivering beyond their control.
Very soon, a black shadow gradually emerged from the smoke.
It was like the king of fiends had just crawled out of the deepest level of hell. Streams of black demonic energy entangled him, raging and tearing the air apart in hissing noises.
BOOM!
Behind the ‘king of fiends’, the debris of the devilish warship had yet another earsplitting explosion. For a moment, the earth was shaking violently, and the airwaves were surging out. The purple demonic fire soared up and illuminated half of the sky!
All the demons cowered on the ground and held their heads hard to avoid the sweeping blast.
They were all well aware how terrifying the blast, acid, and venomous fog were during the explosion of a devilish warship.
If they were hit by the venomous fog stored inside the warship, chances were that they would be vaporized instantly!
“Let’s go!”
A thunderous sound echoed directly inside Jin Xinyue’s brain. The next moment, she sensed that dozens of streams of sharp demonic energy were stimulating the major acupoints on her body.
Because of the motivation, a new strength suddenly appeared in her exhausted body. She could not help but be dragged over.
Jin Xinyue was overjoyed and almost exclaimed aloud.
It was the old monster!
No wonder the demonic energy was so intimidating!
But Li Yao had no time to bother with what Jin Xinyue was thinking about right now. He opened his hands and snatched her. Then, the wings turned into sabers. Thousands of black feathers flapped backward, triggering arc-shaped airwaves behind him that swept the surrounding area like a tsunami, blowing away all the soldiers of the coalition army in the area.
Shua!
Li Yao picked up Jin Xinyue and enveloped her spiritual waves with his demonic energy. Then, he lowered his energy level and entered stealth mode, rushing quietly among the derelict buildings.
The thunderous strike frightened all the soldiers of the Feather Clan and the devilish warships nearby that were planning to chase after them.
For a moment, they did not know what was going on inside the city. Why did such a cluster of violent demonic energy suddenly break out and even attack them?
The search teams became more prudent, but the defense at the periphery was even more impregnable. All the troops stopped resting and were scattered around the defense area over a span of more than ten kilometers. The ocean seemed to be boiling, too. Countless enormous demon beasts living in the deep sea had been awakened!
Li Yao secretly cursed. Carrying Jin Xinyue, he rushed to the entrance of the first tunnel that he had dug out earlier.
However, right above the entrance of the tunnel, a combat squad of the coalition army was working.
It seemed that they were preparing to establish a defense line on the spot and surround the area when Li Yao and Jin Xinyue showed up.
Having no time to go to the second tunnel, Li Yao roared. Seven dragon arms that were enveloped in living cells protruded out of his back and blew out a storm of destruction. Together with the Cell Obliteration Cannon, he annihilated the entire combat squad in three seconds!
Jin Xinyue was rather shocked. After only a few months, the old monster was even stronger than before. Also… what was the magical equipment that he was wearing exactly? How could it be so powerful?
The old monster was indeed immeasurable!
Up until now, 22% of the spiritual energy inside my body has been consumed, 730 billion cells have been obliterated, 26% of the ammunition has been shot out, 11% of the fuel of the crystal suit has been used up, and the durability of the crystal suit has dropped by 7%!
According to the comprehensive evaluation, my overall combat ability has slumped by 11%, and I can keep fighting in the current state for 1 hour, 43 minutes, and 44 seconds. If I switch to the high-intensity combat pattern, I will only be able to persist for 58 minutes. If I am surrounded by three or more devilish warships that are carpet bombing me or demon kings that are riding powerful biochemical beasts, the consumption rate will be even higher!
There are at least nine devilish warships in my sight. For a siege of such a level, middle-level and high-level demon kings must’ve been sent out. Chances are that there are several of them!
As my overall combat ability plummets, the situation will only get worse if I linger here. But if I break out of the siege right now while ensuring that Jin Xinyue is alive, the odds of success are no higher than 5%!
Li Yao analyzed the comparison of the hostile strength and his own calmly. He then monitored the situation on the ocean through Neltharion. Within a breath, he dragged Jin Xinyue and crawled into the tunnel without any hesitation.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Every hundred meters he moved forward, he would detonate a crystal bomb behind him and collapse the section of the tunnel.
But such a trick could only stop the enemy temporarily.
There were countless experts in the coalition army of demons who were adept at underground battles. They were best at digging and drilling. It would not take long for them to discover and infiltrate the underground tunnel.
Jin Xinyue knew that they were in the middle of an emergency, too, and it was not a good time to talk. Silently, she followed Li Yao. The two of them rushed at full speed like two bolts of lightning and dashed to the end of the underground tunnel in the blink of an eye.
This place was right next to the ocean. The air was rather damp, mixed with the vague stink of sea wind.
Ahead of them was the teleportation array through which Li Yao had snuck into Void Turmoil City.
Li Yao activated the teleportation array, but instead of standing on it with Jin Xinyue, he simply placed a piece of bizarre-shaped magical equipment that was riddled with holes and looked like a fish into the teleportation array.
Shua!
The magical equipment soon vanished and appeared in the corals one kilometer away.
Manipulated by Li Yao’s telepathic thoughts, the magical equipment was spreading out the waves of the shoal of the Axe Fish that Li Yao had recorded in the beginning while swimming forward in the deep sea.
“Let’s go!”
Li Yao brought Jin Xinyue back. They zigzagged in the tunnel and arrived at another inconspicuous teleportation array.
He planted multiple time bombs around the teleportation array first and set them to explode five seconds later before he entered it together with Jin Xinyue.
Shua!
The two of them disappeared at the same time and reappeared in darkness.
The teleportation array that they entered was detonated immediately.
Li Yao finally took a long breath in relief.
They were safe… for now.
Jin Xinyue was confused in the darkness, with a lot of questions roiling in her mind.
“The trouble you caused was too huge,” Li Yao explained. “The coalition army of demons has imposed an impregnable dragnet around Void Turmoil City. If they were not alarmed, we might have had a chance to get out. But right now, they have already increased their wariness to the maximum. The soldiers of the Sea Clan are eyeing everything suspiciously in the ocean. There is no way that we can escape from the ocean, either, at least not in the couple of days from now.
“Therefore, I have released a piece of special magical equipment that can swim in the deep sea by itself and release exactly the same waves as when I snuck in.
“If the Sea Clan is smart enough, they will certainly discover the waves that seem to be caused by a shoal of the Axe Fish but is too rigid and going directly to the west. They will certainly think that the wave is caused by us.
“Then, the coalition army of the demons will think that we have escaped via the ocean and focus their attention on the ocean.
“Until they catch up to the magical equipment, we will have a few hours that are safe.”
Jin Xinyue was bewildered hearing his explanation. She could not help but ask, “Then, where are we right now?”
Li Yao took out an illumination chip from his pocket and pressed it gently. Bluish rays of light immediately beamed out.
They were now in a secret chamber less than five meters in length and width. It was utterly empty, except for the ten or so one-way teleportation arrays carved on the walls.
Other than the teleportation array through which they entered the place, the other teleportation arrays only led to the outside world and could not work the other way around.
“This is one of the Fire Ant King’s underground teleportation houses that lead to the ‘safe houses’ inside Void Turmoil City. But I believe that most of the ‘safe houses’ have already been demolished, haven’t they?” Li Yao explained with a bitter smile.
The living cells on the surface of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit entered the hibernation state, and the crystal suit was returned to the Cosmos Ring, revealing a somewhat annoyed face.
“You have met with the Fire Ant King?”
Jin Xinyue was rather amazed. In her usual habit of adulation, she flattered, “Master, you are indeed marvelous—”
“There is no need for exaltation yet,” Li Yao said coldly. “What was going on exactly? Why did you trigger such intense spiritual waves in front of everyone and reveal the secret that you have been transformed into a ‘Cultivator’?”
Jin Xinyue’s pretty face was no better than the peel of a dry orange. “I did not really have a choice, Master. It was quite unlucky of me.”
After he heard her explanation, Li Yao’s face turned weird, too.
As it turned out, after Li Yao snuck into the Skeleton Island and joined the Blade of Chaos a few years back, Yuchi Ba, master of the Skeleton Island, fulfilled his promise. He found Jin Xinyue and the relatives of other gladiators and sent them into the commercial firms and clubs that belonged to the Blade of Chaos, where they were assigned easy jobs.
But Jin Xinyue hated boredom more than anything. Easy jobs did not satisfy her. She was also trying to get more intelligence. Therefore, she resorted to her tricks in the chaotic place.
As a saintess of the Pantheon of Demons, naturally, she had a lot of unusual tricks. Although she was pretending to be a plain-looking chaotic-blood demon, it was enough for her to entice all the male creatures with a few of her alluring techniques.
Chapter 977: The Third Disciple
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
As a result, Jin Xinyue soon gained fame in Void Turmoil City. Many demons who were new to Void Turmoil City heard the tales of the plain-looking, erotic demon girl.
With the help of the Blade of Chaos, she did not meet much trouble under the fake identity as Li Yao’s sister.
However, it was a whole different situation when the coalition army of demons marched close and suppressed the Blade of Chaos. All the residents of Void Turmoil City, be they related to the Blade of Chaos or not, were captured and sent to the concentration camp.
As the saying goes, tall trees catch much wind.
Jin Xinyue had planned to hide among the captives and find a way to escape after they were moved out of Void Turmoil City, but out of her expectations, the manager of the concentration camp learned her name from somewhere.
Although chaotic-blood demons were known as the ‘untouchable’, in the eyes of the silver-blood demons, such demons that were of similar appearances to themselves fitted their appetite better from the aesthetic point of view.
It was highly unlikely that a silver-blood demon would grow interested in a black-blood demon that looked like a bug that had been magnified by a thousand times.
But when they were faced with a chaotic-blood demon who had a pair of rabbit ears or a cat tail, it was quite possible for them to get sexually aroused.
As it turned out, the manager of the concentration camp got sexually aroused.
Although the nobles had to abide by certain rules, it was not too much of a scandal for them when they satisfied their desire with a chaotic-blood demon in a cruel, nerve-tightening war, as long as everything was cleaned up in the end.
Naturally, Jin Xinyue could not let things go his way—she was not a chaotic-blood demon at all right now but an out-and-out human being.
Although she had disguised herself quite well so far, she would certainly be seen through when somebody was too close to her.
Even if she was not seen through, she would certainly be killed by the silver-blood demon later, partly because he needed to keep the scandal from leaking out, and partly, and more importantly, to avoid her giving birth to a descendant whose bloodline was even more chaotic!
Jin Xinyue knew exactly how wicked the silver-blood demons were.
Therefore, seeing that she was not going to be able to refuse him, Jin Xinyue could only hide a small blade among her toes and slay the manager of the concentration camp!
The manager of the concentration camp was a high-level demon general. During her assassination, Jin Xinyue was forced to bring her capability to the maximum. The spiritual waves that she released were naturally perceived by the entire concentration camp and raised the subsequent events!
It was indeed quite unlucky of her.
Pretending that she was feeling both unfortunate and fortunate, Jin Xinyue patted her chest and said, “This is about everything that has happened. I was forced to take action when there was no choice. Later, when I was surrounded by every soldier in the city, I thought that there was no way that I could escape and was planning to kill myself in case I was captured alive. It did not matter if I was tortured, but my mistake would have been unpardonable if I had accidentally leaked the great secret of your existence, Master!
“It never occurred to me that Master would appear out of nowhere and demonstrate your full strength. Even a devilish warship was blown up by you after only one attack. I—I had never seen such a dominating and aggressive attack since I was born! In front of Master, even my father, Jin Tuyi, would be eclipsed. I knew that everything would be settled the moment you showed up, Master. I—”
Tears were all over Jin Xinyue’s eyes while she stared at Li Yao like a lonely, helpless rabbit in such an admiring and trusting way that even cold steel would have been melted.
Li Yao was not moved at all. He said indifferently, “Don’t address me as ‘Master’ all the time. I have never agreed to recruit you as my disciple, have I?”
Jin Xinyue panicked. According to the intelligence that she collected in the past couple of months, her father had completely abandoned her, and Elder Nether Spring was searching for her everywhere.
Furthermore, now that she had been turned into a human being, she was certainly not in a hopeful situation. Not only was her dream to be the most powerful saintess of the Pantheon of Demons and to command the entire Blood Demon Sector shattered, she was also likely to be captured and cut into slices for experiments any moment!
The old monster who showed up out of nowhere and yet was unbelievably strong was indeed the last life-saving straw for her!
“Master!”
Jin Xinyue suddenly kneeled before Li Yao, two rows of tears rushing out of her eyes.
“I wouldn’t have been so bold before. However—however—well, for some reason, since the first time I met you, I’ve always had a subtle feeling in my heart. I’ve always felt that you are the unreachable sky for me, and I cannot contain my urge to follow you. I’m afraid that this is the connection between me and you, Master!
“I know that Master is too marvelous to need the help of such a burdensome disciple as myself. Also, with my stupidity, I will not be able to understand one millionth of your techniques, Master!
“However, please do give me a chance to serve you, Master. I can do all the menial work as long as I have the opportunity to admire your brilliance, Master, and I will be ecstatic!
“Besides, I have gathered quite a lot of intelligence in Void Turmoil City over the past couple of months. Right now, it is a total mess outside. The greatest war between the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector is coming close, but a ‘Flying Star Sector’ has shown up out of thin air.
“There are also mysterious forces such as the Imperium of True Human Beings. It is said that, in those place, the Core Formation Stage Cultivators are as common as clouds while the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators are like raindrops, and they are building warships as if they are making dumplings!
“It is also said that a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from the Heaven’s Origin Sector who is strong, brutal, and insane has snuck into the Blood Demon Sector. Nobody knows what he is up to or where he is. Chances are that he is right next to us!
“In such a chaotic situation, if you keep me by your side, Master, I can help you collect, sort, and analyze the intelligence and make future plans. In that case, a lot of your time can be saved and dedicated to your wholehearted training. Isn’t it so, Master?”
Li Yao stared at her for a long time. It was not until Jin Xinyue felt creepy that he said slowly, “Are you really willing to be my disciple?”
Jin Xinyue was overjoyed. She nodded quickly. “Yes. Yes. I am absolutely willing to, Master!”
Li Yao pondered for a moment and said, “I have recruited two disciples so far. I recruited the first one for his talents and the second one for her tenacity. For the two disciples, I have only been teaching them things without thinking of asking for anything from them in return.
“The two of them are enough to pass on all my knowledge. Therefore, I had never thought of recruiting a third disciple before.
“If I am going to recruit a third disciple, honestly speaking, it will only be for my own convenience.
“The things that I don’t have time to handle will be handled by you. The jobs that I’m not interested in but have to do nonetheless will be taken care of by you. The fundamental tasks, such as data analysis, intelligence collection, and tactical choices, will all be your responsibilities. To quote your words, all the ‘menial work’ will be yours. Are you willing to do them?”
Jin Xinyue was elated. “It is everything that I have dreamed for, master!”
“Although I am recruiting you for a different reason,” Li Yao said, “I will treat you equally and fulfil my duty as a master now that you are my disciple. I don’t care what you did in the past, but after you become my disciple, you will be restricted by my rules, which shall never be violated. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I do!” Jin Xinyue said quickly. “If you are not assured, Master, I can make a Blood Oath or take the poison and venom of your choosing as a shackle.”
“That will be unnecessary,” Li Yao said casually. “I never believe that any relationship, including that between a master and a disciple, can be maintained by a Blood Oath or the useless stuff such as poison or contracts.
“I once made a Blood Oath to respect a certain someone as my master, but hardly had I kneeled before him before I turned around and killed him!
“To this day, I still admit that he is my number one master. But so what? He is so dead right now that even his ashes are no more!
“Do you think a Blood Oath means anything to someone like me? Any Blood Oath or soul contract will have loopholes, and every venom and poison has a solution.
“Only the weak would trust the illusionary sense of safety that a Blood Oath and the soul contracts bring to them!”
Jin Xinyue secretly clicked her tongue, thinking to herself that he was truly an old monster. Killing his own master after only just finishing the ceremony? That was rather brutal.
Li Yao took out an ivory stone from his pocket and extended to Jin Xinyue.
“Bright Gold Stone?”
Jin Xinyue was baffled. It was a very solid material that was ten times harder than diamond, but it was not very valuable. Why was the old monster bringing out such a thing?
Li Yao held the Bright Gold Stone in his hands and rubbed it.
The tiniest powder leaked out of the gaps of his fingers without any sound.
Jin Xinyue was dumbfounded.
A moment later, Li Yao opened his hands again. The Bright Gold Stone inside his hands was only one third of its original size. It had turned into a statue the size of a thumb. It was a hideous vulture that was searching for food.
The vulture was so vividly carved that even the brutality in its eyes was fully depicted!
Jin Xinyue was utterly shocked. Her heart was beating fast. Only through the shivering and crushing of the muscles on his hands, he has carved a Bright Gold Stone into a life-like statue in only half a minute? You—you—you’ve got to be kidding me!
Li Yao placed the vulture statue into Jin Xinyue’s hand and said, “A Blood Oath is quite superfluous. This statue is my welcome gift for you as my disciple. Take it out and play with it every now and then, and I believe you will remember my rules very well.”
Jin Xinyue did not know whether she should feel fortunate or she should cry out. The vulture statue was as scorching as briquet and about to burn a hole on her hands. Calming herself down, she asked carefully, “Understood, Master. I will certainly remember all of your rules well. But I wonder… what are the rules of our school exactly?”
Li Yao was dazed.
Well, that was a good question. What were the rules that his disciples should abide by?
Chapter 978: Secret Channel!
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
“Master?”
Jin Xinyue was rather confused. Why was the old monster suddenly hesitating?
Li Yao scratched his hair in embarrassment and said, “Now that I think about it, I haven’t set up any rules for my disciples yet.”
Are you serious?
“How about this.” Li Yao found a solution. “I am quite an easygoing man, and I don’t have too many rigorous rules that you have to follow. But now that you have turned back into a human being and even entered the Core Formation Stage, you can follow the ‘Constitution of Cultivators’ for now and try to become a real Cultivator from inside to outside!”
“…Wait a second, Master. Why is this conversation getting increasingly weird for me? Isn’t the Constitution of Cultivators a law of the… the Star Glory Federation?”
“Exactly. I am a citizen of the Star Glory Federation. Now that you are my disciple, naturally, you will abide by the law of the federation as a dutiful, useful person for our society. Is there a problem?”
“…..Wait. Wait wait. Master, please give me ten seconds. My head is rather befuddled right now, and I need to think about everything more carefully.”
“Alright!”
Ten seconds later, Jin Xinyue swallowed hard and glanced at Li Yao. She asked cautiously, “Well, Master, I think there is a misunderstanding here. Are you not a great demon from forty thousand years ago that was resurrected recently?”
“Who said that?” Li Yao asked innocently.
“I… It… You said last time you were Elder Bloody Vulture…”
“Everybody has a lot of identities when they are out doing their training. Therefore, I did not lie to you when I said that my name was ‘Bloody Vulture’. It was indeed a name that I used in the past. As for ‘Elder’, you added it yourself. I never acknowledged it before.
“Other than Bloody Vulture, I have quite a few names, such as Fiend Star and Sand Scorpion. But I spent most of my days in the Star Glory Federation, and when I was in the Star Glory Federation, I was ‘Vulture Li Yao’.”
“The ‘Vulture Li Yao’ who killed almost a hundred descendants of the noble families on Boneyard ten years ago and wiped out a squad of silver-blood demons, known as the most brutal Building Foundation Stage Cultivator of the Heaven’s Origin Sector?”
“That’s me.”
Jin Xinyue stared at the vulture statue in her hands, dumbfounded.
The statue seemed to be alive and pierced into her heart, freezing her mind and soul.
“So, rumors have it that a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator has snuck into the Blood Demon Sector to instigate trouble. That’s you, too, Master?”
“Probably. But I didn’t instigate trouble. Fine. From the temporal point of view, I may have instigated some trouble, but it was for a good reason. Would you like to hear my explanation?”
Li Yao’s intimidating aura filled the entire secret room like a quickly expanding octopus.
Jin Xinyue found it hard to breathe. Sweating hard, she smiled, but her expression looked uglier that if she had been crying. “Yes. Of course. Take all the time you need, Master. I’m all ears!”
Li Yao coughed and told Jin Xinyue everything that he had told the Fire Ant King before, including his important experiences in the Flying Star Sector and the secrets about the origins of the demon race.
At first, Jin Xinyue was both frightened and upset.
She was only thinking about how she could save her life. It never occurred to her that the old monster’s real identity was so horrible, which would certainly drag her into an even dreadful swirl.
However, Li Yao’s experiences attracted her, especially the formidability of the Imperium of True Human Beings, the shocking origins of the demon race, and the mysteries of Elder Nether Spring’s Spore Stratagem!
“My purpose is simple. I wish to stop the mutual destruction of the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector so that we can face the threat of the Imperium of True Human Beings together!” Li Yao said. “Theory that human beings and demons share the same origin is a fact. You know it better than anybody else; you are a walking proof!
“Since we are of the same origin, the whole thing is definitely not unnegotiable.
“Besides, we face imminent peril. Leaving the Imperium of True Human Beings aside, Elder Nether Spring’s Spore Stratagem, should it work out, will turned both the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector into wastelands!
“For you personally, you don’t want to hide in a shelter for the rest of your life, do you? Only after the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector reach a truce, and all the demons learn of their origins and make a choice freely about their future, will you be able to show up openly in public!”
Jin Xinyue thought quickly and realized that the real identity of her ‘master’ was in fact better for her.
He was quite right. With her current appearance, the demon race would not embrace her, and human beings would only make use of her.
Only if the two Sectors cease fire would there be room for her survival.
Moreover—
Jin Xinyue’s eyes flickered from side to side, and suddenly, she realized that she was indeed the key to the situation!
“Whoever you are, Master,” she said respectfully, “you will always be my only master. As a disciple, I’m certainly loyal to my master! What are we going to do next?”
Li Yao could tell from the mysterious smile on her lips that Jin Xinyue was planning how to gain the greatest benefits from the whole thing.
But he had never expected his third disciple to be someone frank and forthright.
Perhaps, Jin Xinyue and her character would be the sharpest dagger to cut the knots that were ahead of him quickly.
“Your father is the commander-in-chief of the coalition army,” Li Yao said. “By your estimation, what will he do after he learns the news about the Flying Star Sector? Will he call for a ceasefire and even work for peace because of the overwhelming capability of the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector, or will he go all in and start the final war?”
Although Jin Xinyue looked feeble, her nerves seemed to be made of steel. She recovered from Li Yao’s shocking identity and reactivated her computational ability. She calmly analyzed, “He will start the final war, of course! Not just my father, any leader of the demon race would make the same choice. I would do exactly the same thing if I were the commander-in-chief!
“Let’s stand in their shoes for a moment. You are the Speaker of Parliament of the Star Glory Federation, Master, and you learn the news that the Blood Demon Sector will be reinforced by another world of demons, and its capability will soar in the next couple of years. Right then, the Blood Demon Sector sends out envoys, hoping to strike a truce or even a total peace.
“What judgement will you make? Will you believe that it is not some kind of delaying tactic?”
Li Yao pondered for a moment and had to admit that it was indeed a conundrum.
If he were the Speaker of Parliament and learned such news, he would definitely not trust the envoys from the Blood Demon Sector but take a wild gamble, too!
Nobody would put their chances of survival on their mortal enemy!
“If so,” Li Yao said, “can you estimate how the wild gamble will be played? How will your father launch the attack according to his personality?”
Deep in thought for a moment, Jin Xinyue suddenly exclaimed, “The Red Tide Plan!”
Li Yao had heard the name before.
It was said to be an assault plan that Jin Tuyi had dedicated his life to.
He was hoping to attack the prosperous area of the federation from the ocean to the east of the Star Glory Federation!
Jin Xinyue breathed quickly and said, “After the civilians of Void Turmoil City were captured, we were locked up and had military training quickly. We were not only taught the tricks of a long march but also the methods to survive in the desert. They seemed to be planning to drive us to march in a desert!
“Although the land of the Blood Demon Sector is barren, there are no large deserts except for the White Silver Death Desert. Besides, there are barely any resources in the deserts. They don’t have any reason to send the civilians there.”
Li Yao squinted. “The Grand Desolate Plateau?”
Jin Xinyue nodded. “Yes. The merging point of the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector is on the Grand Desolate Plateau. If we attack the Heaven’s Origin Sector through the regular routes, the soldiers will inevitably pass through the entire Grand Desolate Plateau. The coalition army of demons is grouping the civilians and driving them to the Grand Desolate Plateau as cannon fodder!
“But it doesn’t make sense!
“Although the ‘Battle of Dawn’ has failed, the Blood Demon Sector is still the stronger one at present. Training the regular demons into cannon fodder should not yet be necessary.
“There’s a difference between advanced cannon fodder and mediocre cannon fodder. Why do they not resort to the advanced cannon fodder, namely the well-trained black-blood demons and chaotic-blood demons?
“After all, all cannon fodder will consume resources. Sending so many civilians into the Grand Desolate Plateau will be a huge pressure for our supply line. They will likely be starved before they march to the Giant Blade Pass. If so, the only thing that will be struck is their own morale instead of the federal soldiers.”
Li Yao nodded. Jin Xinyue did have a point.
Approved by Li Yao, Jin Xinyue was greatly encouraged. “Unless, of course, the Grand Desolate Plateau will not be the main field, and the coalition army is not sending the main force there. It is just a fake main force consisting of a few regular soldiers and a huge amount of cannon fodder!
“So much cannon fodder is required to fake an expedition army of an unprecedented scale that the current cannon fodder they have is far from enough. That’s why they are training the civilians into cannon fodder!
“After all, they do not have any demand on the combat ability for the cannon fodder. As long as they are sent into the Grand Desolate Plateau and deceive the main force of the federal army for a fortnight, it will be good enough!
“The real route of attack, on the other hand, is in the ocean east to the Star Glory Federation!
“Since hundreds of years ago when the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector first met each other, the main point of impact has always been the north of the Grand Desolate Plateau.
“Over the past few years, most of the best tides have broken out on the Grand Desolate Plateau, too. As a result, it is now assumed that the Blood Demon Sector can only attack from the north!
“But it is wrong!
“Five hundred years ago, when the Star Glory Federation was just established, the most formidable enemy for them was the ‘Far East Demon Kingdom’ to the east of the federation!
“The Far East Demon Kingdom was demolished in the end, but before their collapse, they built a large teleportation array in the ocean east of the federation and established a channel to the Blood Demon Sector.
“Part of the nobles fled to the Blood Demon Sector through the channel.
“After they reached the Blood Demon Sector, however, they were idiotic enough to create a party named ‘Far East Freedom Front’, hoping to occupy some of the land of the Blood Demon Sector and set up a government-in-exile. Very soon, they were suppressed and butchered by the local demons!
“The Gold Crow Kingdom naturally took part in the suppression of the ‘Far East Freedom Front’. As a result, the secret channel leading to the ocean in the east of the Heaven’s Origin Sector fell into my father’s hands in the end!”
Chapter 979: Spores in the Red Tide!
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
“It is said that, when the Far East Demon Kingdom collapsed, the nobles carried part of the valuable treasures and resources. But they sealed tremendous strategical resources in the deep-sea east of the continent.
“When they were building a large teleportation array to connect the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector, they had planned to march back from the Blood Demon Sector. Those resources were all prepared for their counterattack!
“It is safe to say that many ‘counterattack bases’ were established hundreds of years ago in the eastern ocean of the Heaven’s Origin Sector!
“After the last survivors of the Far East Demon Kingdom died in the Blood Demon Sector, their plan became quite well known.
“But nobody knew anything about it in the Heaven’s Origin Sector. All the federal citizens thought that the Far East Demon Kingdom was completely shattered!
“It is based on the secret channel and the ‘counterattack bases’ that my father drafted the Red Tide Plan!
“The Red Tide Plan can be divided into two parts. Firstly, an expedition army will march into the Grand Desolate Plateau and threaten the Giant Blade Pass at the south of it, attracting the attention of all the experts and the main force of the Star Glory Federation.
“But the expedition army will be carrying out a suicidal mission. The soldiers will mostly be fakes, made by a tiny proportion of regular soldiers and a huge amount of cannon fodder. Or rather, to make the army more intimidating, they will even drive a large batch of civilians into the Heaven’s Origin Sector.
“After all—”
Jin Xinyue smiled bitterly and said, “In the eyes of most human beings, demons are demons. Is there any difference between ‘civilians’ and ‘soldiers’? At the very least, they will not be able to notice anything wrong in a week or two.
“When the elites and experts of the federal army are stalled at the Grand Desolate Plateau and the Giant Blade Pass in the north, the real main force of the Blood Demon Sector will be teleported to the east of the Star Glory Federation through the secret channel left by the Far East Demon Kingdom. Then, they will march to the coast and stab into the heartland of the federation!”
Li Yao pondered for a moment and said, “We’ve talked about the Red Tide Plan before, but I still think that it is too risky and radical.”
“It is indeed an extraordinary plan,” Jin Xinyue agreed. “But that’s my father. For 99% of the time, he is the calmest politician and general, if not an emotionless machine. But for 1% of the time, he has a style that is very close to the style of an insane poet. Perhaps for him, the ‘Red Tide Plan’ is just a ‘poem’ that he wrote when he was totally drunk.
“There are a lot of hinderances for the plan to be implemented.
“First of all, the troops to attract the federal army in the north, to achieve the purpose of strategical deception, can’t be all false. The few most famous troops of the Blood Demon Sector may have to be sent to the Giant Blade Pass for the Star Glory Federation to believe that they are the main force.
“Whether the Red Tide Plan works out or not, the ace troops will certainly be obliterated!
“Secondly, the secret channel left by the Far East Demon Kingdom must be highly unstable after hundreds of years have passed. There is no telling if anything will go wrong during the teleportation. The situation of the ‘counterattack bases’ is unclear, too. Otherwise, somebody would’ve implemented a similar plan hundreds of years ago!
“Thirdly, the success of the Red Tide Plan depends on confidentiality. Once the elites of the coalition army of demons really invade the heartland of the Star Glory Federation, the expedition army will barely have any backup. They will be marching all by themselves with an uncertain future.
“If so much as a message is leaked out in advance and the Star Glory Federation is prepared for them, the entire expedition army will likely be wiped out!
“In short, the implementation of the Red Tide Plan requires unity and the willingness to sacrifice. No kingdom, city, or tribe should care about their own gains or losses. Unbelievable luck is mandatory, too!
“Hehe. How was it possible in the past?”
“But right now, the Flying Star Sector changed everything,” Li Yao said calmly.
“Exactly.” Jin Xinyue combed her hair and said, “The arrival of the Flying Star Sector forced the Blood Demon Sector into a corner. Once the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector join their hands, the Blood Demon Sector will be dragged into the abyss of doom. Then, what’s the point of the internal strife among the major demon kingdoms?
“Therefore, it may sound absurd, but the arrival of the Flying Star Sector has increased the capability of the Blood Demon Sector first instead of that of the Heaven’s Origin Sector. Starting from the moment when the citizens of the Flying Star Sector appeared, all the demons of the Blood Demon Sector have become more unified and willing to sacrifice than ever, which is the greatest foundation for the implementation of the Red Tide Plan!
“What matters most is no longer the success rate of the plan.
“Even in the best case-scenario, all the demon emperors are very clear that the chance of success of the Red Tide Plan is no higher than 30%!
“But none of that is important right now. What they need is no longer a strategy whose success is guaranteed but a plan that is most fatal despite its low odds of success, one that will certainly destroy the Star Glory Federation should it miraculously work out!
“Then, this is their only choice now. The Red Tide Plan!”
Listening to Jin Xinyue’s analysis, Li Yao was breathing rapidly.
Floating Spear City, his hometown, was on the eastern coast of the Star Glory Federation.
He remembered the ‘Distant Expanse’, known as ‘federal army’s eternal flagship’, that he saw in the sky of the Devil Dragon Island as well as the enormous Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars flag made of the red glow.
If all the experts of the Blood Demon Sector really showed up from the bottom of the ocean, leading the elite troops, and marched into the most prosperous and the least guarded heartland of the federation directly…
The consequences would be too dire to imagine!
“Do you know the specific location of the secret channel?” Li Yao asked solemnly.
Jin Xinyue shook her head. “My father is the only one who knows the details of the Red Tide Plan. The general picture of it, which I talked about just now, was found out at a great cost, too. Perhaps it is also the reason my father abandoned me. He attaches more importance to the Red Tide Plan than any of his children.”
Li Yao frowned in silence.
Jin Xinyue’s eyes glittered. She suddenly said, “However, I think that what Master should focus on is not my father’s ‘Red Tide Plan’ but Elder Nether Spring’s Spore Stratagem, or even the connection between them.”
“Huh?”
Li Yao glanced at her, vaguely feeling that she might be onto something.
“As you said just now, Master, although you destroyed Elder Nether Spring’s research base, he’d already produced a hundred spores in secret, which are the ‘carriers of the Demon God Virus’ and dangerous genetic bombs, right?”
“Precisely,” Li Yao replied.
“But the Demon God Virus is still deeply flawed right now in that it is vulnerable to flame and frost. It is impossible to spread to the entire continent and can only destroy a few cities where the population is highly concentrated at best. Therefore, Elder Nether Spring must select a perfect time and location to detonate the bombs.”
“What have you thought of?”
Deep in thought, Jin Xinyue mumbled, “I am merely thinking that, if I were Elder Nether Spring, and my purpose was to infect as many people, preferably experts, as possible with the hundred spores, what should I do?
“I would certainly pick a highly-populated area. Also, it would be best if those gathered in the area consist of strong soldiers, fighters, Cultivators, and great demons!
“It will be even better if there is a great number of demon emperors and Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators among them!”
Li Yao stared at her and suddenly gasped.
Jin Xinyue managed a smile and said, “You seem to have figured it out, too, Master. If the Red Tide Plan is really activated, millions of demons will charge into the most populated area in the east of the federation and even reach the capital city!
“Whether the Heaven’s Origin Sector is prepared or not, the greatest number of experts and the strongest crystal suit legions will certainly be gathered around the capital city to defend it!
“Also, when news spreads that the capital city is under attack, the federal army stationed in the Giant Blade Pass may not be able to retreat easily, but the Core Formation Stage Cultivators and the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators will certainly return to the capital city for the battle, using vehicles such as super shuttles or teleportation arrays, in a couple of days!
“Think about it. What will the capital city of the Star Glory Federation be like by then?
“It will be an ultimate war of an unprecedented scale, with dozens of demon emperors and Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, hundreds of Core Formation Stage Cultivators and demon kings, and countless more experts of lower levels on the two sides!
“At that time, the capital city of the Star Glory Federation will be the area where the density of unparalleled experts is highest in both the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector. All the participants will be the toughest, strongest, most well-trained soldiers of the two Sectors even if they are not the unparalleled experts, right?
“Right when the best forces of the two worlds are engaged in a head-on, blood-draining battle, the spores that have been lurking in the coalition army of demons will suddenly break out. The Demon God Virus will speed across the capital city of the Star Glory Federation and swiftly contaminate all the soldiers and experts!
“Most of the victims will be killed instantly or turned into ‘uncontrollable mutants’. However, the few ‘lucky dogs’ will become even stronger than before, and they will be Elder Nether Spring’s loyal slaves!
“The capital city of the Star Glory Federation and the satellite cities around are the most populated and prosperous regions. As the ‘uncontrollable mutants’ spread out, carrying the ‘Demon God Virus’, it is possible that the few metropolises near the capital city will be plagued, too. There is no way that the Star Glory Federation will demolish the capital city and the surrounding metropolises, which would be like crushing its own heart. The only thing that they can do is to send more soldiers to the infected area to control the situation.
“On the coalition army of demons’ side, having marched into the heartland of the Star Glory Federation by themselves, they will be harassed by the uncontrollable mutants. It will be impossible for them to retreat to the ocean in the east!
“As a result, everybody will seem to be attracted by an invisible magnet and trapped in the infected area, unable to move, until there are no survivors left!
“We must note that the strongest Cultivators and demons and the best troops of the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector will all have gathered there! When everybody there is infected, killed, or turned into Elder Nether Spring’s slaves, will there be any other forces who are capable of competing with Elder Nether Spring?”
Chapter 980: For Peace!
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Li Yao’s powerful computational ability quickly painted a calamitous scene for him.
If the Red Tide Plan was really activated, the super experts and best soldiers of the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector would be gathered in the prosperous, populated area in the east of the federation.
Once the virus broke out, most of the participants of the battle would be infected and turn into Elder Nether Spring’s slaves or ‘uncontrollable mutants’. The troops deployed out of the capital ring of the city would not be able to resist the tide of destruction, either. Important cities would fall one after another. Elder Nether Spring’s army of death would snowball and grow larger and larger!
In a chill, Li Yao mumbled, “Elder Nether Spring is too voracious. He is trying to fish up all the experts of the two Sectors together! But the experts in and above the Core Formation Stage and the demon king level are highly immune to viruses in the first place. They can also release flames or frost to cleanse the viruses. They will not be infected so easily.”
“It might be true under normal circumstances,” Jin Xinyue said, “but what if they are already exhausted, heavily wounded, and surrounded by countless ‘uncontrollable mutants’?
“They will have nowhere to run!
“The ‘Red Tide Plan’, as a strategy for the ultimate war, is extremely risky. Even if everything goes well, the odds of success will be no higher than thirty percent. The most likely outcome is that the elites of the coalition army of demons will be annihilated somewhere in the capital ring of the Star Glory Federation.
“But the Spore Stratagem is different—the only requirement of the plan is to push the main force of the coalition army of demons into the capital ring of the federation!
“After the virus breaks out, the federal soldiers will think that it is a new biochemical weapon that the demon race invented. They will hate demons even more and surround the coalition army without letting anyone through. Driven by their ideology of protecting the ordinary people, the Cultivators will only charge in incessantly like moths to a flame. How will the coalition army escape?
“The coalition army will be there for a last battle. There will be no reason for them to retreat, either. Besides, they will be marching by themselves without support. They will have no choice but to fight!
“Even if a few guys in the coalition army are smart enough to realize that it is a scheme, what can they do? Will they still have a chance to negotiate with the federal army and explain that everything is just a misunderstanding?
“Therefore, even if some of them know the truth, it will be impossible for them to stop the mutual destruction of the coalition army of demons and the federal army. All the experts will be heavily wounded and infected by the ‘uncontrollable mutants’. They will either turn into the ‘super uncontrollable mutants’ that are even tougher or end up being Elder Nether Spring’s slaves!
“Since they are in the level of Nascent Soul Stage or demon emperor, they are standing at the peak of evolution in the first place, and their odds of surviving the mutations will be much higher than the odds of ordinary people. Of the hundred Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and demon emperors, as long as one tenth of them, which means around ten super experts, are controlled by the Elder Nether Spring, and the other experts are turned into ‘uncontrollable mutants’, it will be an extremely terrifying force!
“With the help of the terrifying force, Elder Nether Spring will establish his new order that will shake the very foundations of the world!
“It is a plan that is barely stoppable.
“Even if the leadership of the Heaven’s Origin Sector learns of the ‘Red Tide Plan’, so what? Maybe, they will secretly deploy all the elites in the east of the federation and prepare to wipe out the main force of the Blood Demon Sector. But it will fit Elder Nether Spring’s need even better. He does not need a victory, and he is not scared of failure. All he needs is an unprecedented war where all the elites of the two worlds will be gathered!
“The bottom line is, once the main force of the coalition army invades the Star Glory Federation, everything will be doomed whether the federation is prepared or not!”
Li Yao took multiple deep breaths to calm himself down. “The Red Tide Plan is likely to break out at any moment. We have to meet your father and explain everything to him. We must convince him that the Spore Stratagem exists and that the ‘Red Tide Plan’ has to be aborted!
“Are you confident to persuade your father? Or rather, is he rational enough for communication and willing to concede?”
Jin Xinyue thought carefully and replied, “99% of the time, he is a shrewd guy who will concede for his interest. But what is odd is that, whenever you think that he is conceding, you are actually falling into his trap! I’ve seen him concede countless times since childhood, both in the Gold Crow Kingdom and in the Pantheon of Demons. He has conceded, retreated, and even yielded dozens of times. But after dozens of times of compromises, all his enemies are dead, and he is now the leader of the Feather Clan and the master of sky. He has even turned into the commander-in-chief of the coalition army and the most powerful being in the Blood Demon Sector in name!”
There was fear in Jin Xinyue’s eyes. “In the demon race, the forces on the ground have always been most valued. The Horn Clan and the Claw Clan that govern the earth and the Insect Clan that governs the underground are the strongest clans. In comparison, the Sea Clan that dominates the ocean and the Feather Clan that commands the sky are relatively weaker.
“Over the past hundreds of years, the commander-in-chief of the coalition army has always been from the Horn Clan, the Claw Clan, or the Insect Clan. The ideology of the demon race has been focused on continentalism, too. Beast tides are everything!
“My father is the first commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons from the Feather Clan in two hundred years. He has even successfully altered the guiding principle that prevailed for hundreds of years and changed from ‘continentalism’ to the ‘unification of the sky, the ocean, and the land’. It is not hard to imagine how many interest groups he has confronted and dealt with during the process!
“Therefore, he seems to be someone who is rational enough to communication and willing to compromise when offered with undeniable proof and calculation.
“However, that is never a real concession. It is just the beginning of a new plan.
“That’s only in 99% of the cases.
“There are still 1% of cases, where he behaves like an ‘insane poet’. I don’t know how I can comment on him in such cases.
“In such cases, he is a lunatic that is even crazier than Elder Nether Spring. Nobody can predict him. Nobody can control him. Nobody can sway him!
“Besides, we don’t know yet whether or not Elder Nether Spring’s spies are around him.”
Li Yao narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”
Jin Xinyue frowned. “I’ve been suspicious about if my father knew that I was attacked by the troop of Mirage Falcons. If he knew, how much did he know? Considering the sordidness of Elder Nether Spring’s Spore Stratagem, is it possible that he has sent a lot of spies to my father?
“It must be noted that, although my father has been elected as the commander-in-chief of the coalition army now, the majority of the coalition army is still made of the Claw Clan, the Horn Clan, and the Insect Clan because of the ‘continentalism’ that has prevailed for hundreds of years. The Feather Clan does not have much control. Most of the elite troops and the intelligence network are under the command of the Insect Clan, the Claw Clan, and the Horn Clan.
“With Elder Nether Spring’s precise arrangements, he must’ve been preparing for the scheme since decades ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had smuggled his trusted subordinates into the coalition army.
“If they interfered on purpose and handed false intelligence to my father, it is very possible that my father was misled.
“After all, even a demon emperor cannot know everything that is happening. When he is inside the command center in the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons, the enormous intelligence network will be his eyes and ears. If the intelligence work is corroded, and if his closest subordinates have betrayed him, he will only make wrong judgements however smart he is.”
“Just like Elder Nether Spring manipulated Master Hollow Wind to say what he wanted said, you are suspecting that Elder Nether Spring is manipulating your father without him knowing?” Li Yao said coldly.
“I don’t know,” Jin Xinyue mumbled. “I truly don’t know.”
Li Yao smashed the ball. “Therefore, we must sneak into the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons in Heavenly Path City silently and have a one-to-one conversation with your father!”
Hesitating for a moment, Jin Xinyue asked cautiously, “Master, do you know that the mission is as difficult as ‘assassinate the commander-in-chief of the coalition army’?”
Li Yao’s eyes were glittering. “How do you know that it won’t work out when you haven’t tried? At the very least, you are familiar with the terrain of the Pantheon of Demons and Heavenly Path City, right? Also, tell me all the details about your father’s habits. We will come up with a perfect infiltration plan!
“However, we must get out of here first!
“After such a long time, the main force of the coalition army must be chasing after the magical equipment that is swimming randomly in the deep sea. This is the moment when they are least wary. It will be too late after they find the truth about the magical equipment!”
Li Yao triggered the light beam and pointed at the map of Void Turmoil City. “Look. According to the map, this teleportation array is the furthest from us. It can bring us to the demonic plant garden at the periphery of Void Turmoil City.
“What are planted in the garden are tall and dense Fire Oil Palm Trees. It is highly unlikely that we will be discovered.
“We will decide what to do after we arrive.
“Plan A. We will hide ourselves in the blubber of the Land Whales. It is a highly effective move that I just tested.
“Plan B. We will rob two soldiers that are roughly the same size as us and take away their armor. Then, we will pretend to be them.
“Plan C. We will pretend to be the ‘cannon fodder’ being shipped out of the city.
“The bottom line is, don’t attack unless it is absolutely necessary. Our primary target now is to stop a world war. Do you understand?”
Jin Xinyue nodded.
“Alright? Have you recovered? We will be teleported in three seconds!”
Li Yao packed up everything and activated the teleportation array.
Three seconds later, the underground chamber was illuminated by a dazzling mystic ray, which melted them.
Within a breath, they appeared in the garden of Fire Oil Palm Trees, or what used to be the garden.
Since there were few obstacles around and most of the Fire Oil Palm Trees had been burnt to the ground, the coalition army had decided to develop the garden into a temporary port.
Two devilish warships were spurting right above their heads. On their left was a troop of heavy beetles that had just arrived. On their right were twenty acid cannons that were being transported. In front of them were several officers who were checking the assets, followed by more than ten biochemical beasts that had just crawled out of the storage tanks.
Earlier today, only half of the garden had been built into a port. An area of half-burnt demonic plants, in which the teleportation array was hidden, had not been cleared yet. That was why the teleportation array had not been discovered.
But the news that a Cultivator had shown up in Void Turmoil City had spread out in all troops. The commander had decided to expand the port to accommodate more reinforcements.
When Li Yao and Jin Xinyue appeared, the last few burnt Fire Oil Palm Trees were falling down slowly, pulled by elephants.
The officers and them looked at each other in a weird silence.
“Master, is there a Plan D?”
“There is. Well, would you please calm down for a moment and listen to our explanation, officers? You may find it hard to believe, but in fact, we are here for world peace…”
Chapter 981: Jin Tuyi’s Suspicion
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
In the command center of Heavenly Path City, the center of power of the Blood Demon Sector, Jin Tuyi—the leader of the Feather Clan, the commander-in-chief of the coalition arm of demons, and the most powerful being in the Blood Demon Sector in name—was staring at dozens of light beams nonchalantly.
The light beams were playing the footage of the same battle from different angles. It was the picture where Jin Xinyue escaped from Void Turmoil City and Li Yao picked her up, including the part where he blew up a devilish warship.
The ever-lasting explosions left mottled shadows on Jin Tuyi’s face.
Jin Tuyi was tall, slender, and as handsome as any silver-blood demon, but his nose curled like a saber, making him look rather intimidating. His narrow, long, and deeply hollowed eyes also added to his mysteriousness.
A pair of pure-white, flawless wings were folded on his back. The feathers extended all the way to his head, as if he were wearing a natural crown, which made him even more elegant and sacred.
The one standing behind him respectfully, who did not even dare breathe too loudly, was Jin Wuxu, his eldest son and the commander of ‘Mirage Falcons’, the best troop of the Feather Clan.
“Father, this is the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator who snuck into the Blood Demon Sector according to our intelligence.
“They caused havoc in Void Turmoil City yesterday. After shooting down a ‘Ghost Eye’-level devilish warship in the beginning, they committed a massacre in a temporary port at the suburb of Void Turmoil City and seriously wrecked the second devilish warship, slaying seven biochemical beasts and more than a hundred soldiers, including twelve silver-blood nobles!
“We are still chasing after them as of now. More than ten thousand soldiers have been deployed. However, our elites are all making preparations for the ‘Red Tide Plan’. Therefore, our strongest forces are unavailable. Maybe it will be another few days before we capture them!”
If Jin Tuyi was angry and surprised at his son’s report at all, he was definitely not showing any of such feelings on his face. He observed Li Yao’s combat picture while he asked casually, “The intelligence says that a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from the Heaven’s Origin Sector has snuck into the Blood Demon Sector. Then who is this woman?”
Jin Wuxu hesitated for a moment. In the picture, Jin Xinyue had disguised herself quite well and was completely different from the saintess of the Pantheon of Demons in the past. He failed to recognize her for the moment. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Perhaps she was the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator’s subordinate?”
“Alright. Let’s say that she is a subordinate. Then why did they show up in Void Turmoil City?” Jin Tuyi asked calmly.
Jin Wuxu hesitated. “That information is still being investigated. It is possible that they were trying to bring away something important for the Blade of Chaos.”
“Then, what kind of force did the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from the Heaven’s Origin Sector use?” Jin Tuyi asked again. “I can see that he tore open the shield of the devilish warship with tremendous crystal bombs, but the critical strike on the devilish warship was the Cell Obliteration Cannon, which is a technique of the demon race, wasn’t it?
“Are you trying to tell me that a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator who can launch the Cell Obliteration Cannon has snuck into the Blood Demon Sector?”
Cold sweat was popping out of Jin Wuxu’s forehead. “We are still investigating. Still investigating.”
Jin Wuxu did not turn around. He suddenly changed the topic. “How is the investigation on the mysterious island in the North Pole?”
Jin Wuxu was dazed for a moment. He hurried to reply, “The investigation is still ongoing. According to the intelligence that Master Hollow Wind provided, we have confirmed that there is indeed such an island in the North Pole, but the island has been completely demolished. Judging from the traces left there, we reached the conclusion that there was indeed a base of the Blade of Chaos before on the island.”
At this moment, Jin Tuyi finally turned his head and looked at his son carefully.
The way he turned his head was quite unique. His shoulder and his body were absolutely still, and only his neck and his head turned a hundred and eighty degrees, which was apparently the distinctive feature of some types of birds.
Jin Wuxu felt that his leg was shaking violently after his father stared at him for ten seconds.
But Jin Tuyi did not raise any more questions. He said casually, “That’s all for now. You may leave.”
“Understood, Father. We will find out the truth of everything as quickly as possible!”
Like a prisoner who had just been pardoned, Jin Wuyi bowed and retreated from the room, not even having the courage to wipe his sweat.
Looking at his son disappearing from the room in fear, Jin Tuyi’s eyes were suddenly mixed with indescribable brilliance. He slowly turned his head back and continued studying Li Yao and Jin Xinyue’s combat picture.
Suddenly, he thought of something. He clipped all the frames that Jin Xinyue was in and magnified them.
Jin Tuyi narrowed his eyes, wholeheartedly studying the appearance and the posture of the woman who was both strange and familiar to him.
…
Five days later, deep inside an abandoned mother lode, seventy-seven hundred kilometers from Void Turmoil City, Li Yao and Jin Xinyue were rushing fast, soaked in blood. They charged into an inconspicuous mining hole that had an underground river at the bottom at the cost of the last bit of their spiritual energy.
Li Yao could not hold on any longer. He fell on one of his knees and fell to the floor. Then, he lay in the darkness, breathing hard. Blood was flooding out from the hundreds of wounds all over his body. The speed of the proliferation of cells was far lower than the speed of the spread of the poison.
After fighting for five days, he felt as if he was an orange that had been squeezed too many times. It was impossible to wring any more juice out of him.
But luckily, they had finally escaped out of the siege of the coalition army!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Not far away, an earsplitting explosion echoed. The mining hole that they were in was shaking violently. Rocks fell from the ceiling and smashed them. But they did not even have the strength to dodge and could only watch the rocks falling and burying them.
The quake lasted ten seconds, until Li Yao and Jin Xinyue were both consumed by the rocks and the entrance of the hole was gone.
Huchi. Huchi. Huchi.
In the darkness, the two of them were breathing heavily.
It was not until ten minutes later that Li Yao finally regained the ability to talk. He laughed out loud in relief.
“The last troop that is hunting us in the five hundred square kilometers nearby has been attracted into the wrong mining hole by my magical equipment and killed by the crystal bombs that we planted there!
“We’re finally safe!”
After saying that, the two of them continued breathing heavily for half an hour before they regained the strength to further run away and communicate.
“Master, allow me to report our latest accomplishment to you. Over the past five days, we have killed approximately a thousand and three hundred soldiers of the coalition army of demons, more than fifty biochemical beasts, and nine hundred demon beasts of all sorts.
“Among the victims, there were 97 silver-blood demons that I could recognize, including the princes, young masters, and disciples of the demon emperors in the four major demon kingdoms. The one of the highest social position should be Yuan Feidu who was killed yesterday. His father is Yuan Riyue, one of the twelve demon emperors, known as the ‘Ape Fiend’. The guy is famous for his pettiness, but he is unbelievably formidable, too. In terms of personal combat ability, he ranks the top three among the twelve demon emperors.
“If we include the ‘massacre’ that Master committed on Boneyard ten years ago, then I must congratulate you now. You are certainly the Cultivator who has slain the most nobles of the Blood Demon Sector in the entire Star Glory Federation. You truly deserve to be an ‘Ultra-Level Federal Hero’!”
“What are you implying?”
Jin Xinyue hurriedly shook her head. “Nothing. Nothing. I’m certainly not implying anything. I just want to confirm with you, Master, we—we are truly here for peace and to resolve the grudge between the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector, right?”
“Of course. We are faced with a mutual threat right now. Peace is the only way out for us. Is there a problem? Are you questioning my sincerity?”
“No problem. No problem at all. I totally believe your sincere wish about world peace, Master. You are so merciful and lenient that you are definitely the firmest pacifist in the world! As for the past few days… Well… It was just self-defense!
“I am only trying to say that, after the fuss we’ve caused, my father’s hostility and wariness must’ve been raised to the highest. It will not be easy for us to sneak into the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons without alarming anyone.”
“You can only tell whether a thing is easy or not after you’ve tried. I asked you to recall the terrain and the structure of Heavenly Path City and the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons. Do you have a rough idea now? Also, I want to know every detail about your father, such as his habits and hobbies, even including his favorite book while he is on the toilet!”
Jin Xinyue took out a crystal processor that Li Yao had given her and triggered a light beam. It was a map of Heavenly Path City that she had drawn recently.
Since she was a saintess of the Pantheon of Demons, infiltration, assassination, espionage, and sabotage were all her specialties. Also, she had received training in the Pantheon of Demons from a young age. The defense of the Pantheon of Demons had been among her training subjects.
Therefore, although it was only a draft that she had drawn in the spare time during her escape, all the details were rather accurate.
“Please take a look, Master.”
Pointing at the light beam, Jin Xinyue explained, “Heavenly Path City is the core city of the Blood Demon Sector and was co-established by the four demon kingdoms and the influential demon cities. It is divided into the ‘upper city’ and the ‘lower city’.
“The lower city, which is on the ground, is essentially another Void Turmoil City, except that it is much larger. Demons of different tribes and backgrounds live there. A lot of different minor environments have been simulated in the lower city, too, which adds to the complexity of the terrain. Also, tremendous assets and soldiers enter and exit the lower city every day. Therefore, it will not be difficult to sneak into it.
“But the ‘upper city’ is totally different.
“The upper city is an airborne metropolis comprising of almost a hundred floating mountains. It is the real ‘Heavenly Path City’!
“All the important facilities, such as the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons and the command center of the coalition army, are established on the floating mountains of the upper city. Every floating mountain boasts independent defense arrays. Even if one of them is compromised, the other floating mountains can cut off their connection to it once the intrusion is discovered. The burglar will have absolutely nowhere to run!”
Chapter 982: Impasse
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
“A number of air forces are stationed in the empty area among the floating mountains, including the Mirage Falcons from the Feather Clan, the Ghost Jellyfish from the Sea Clan, and the Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes and the Colorful Locusts from the Insect Clan. Approximately ten eagles and a hundred bugs are hiding behind every cloud. The dense ‘Flying Spirit Eyes’ have an overlapping monitoring range. Even if one third of them are paralyzed, there will still be no blind spots!
“On the ground, there’s also air-defense bastions made of more than thirty types of demonic plants, including Smoke Venom Flowers, Dragon Corroding Grass, Lethal Poisonous Lotus, and others that boast air attacking abilities. They can cover the entire sky with acid, venomous fog, and fire!
“To the east of Heavenly Path City is a large port, where more than fifty devilish warships—including ‘Blood Demon’, the flagship of the coalition army of demons—are docked. Among them, ‘Blood Demon’, which is seven kilometers long, is a super heavy warship produced by all four major demon kingdoms together at the cost of almost ten thousand demon beasts. It is not hard to imagine how many acid cannons and demonic energy cannons are installed on the warship. The most distinctive part about the warship is the ‘Super Neuron Clustering Network System’, which can connect the brains of four to five demon emperors to the main biochemical brain of the warship so that they can manipulate the warship easily!
“It is like a super warship with the wisdom of multiple demon emperors. Think about it. How terrifying is that!
“Leaving the defense system aside, the dozens of demon emperors inside Heavenly Path City alone are not easy to deal with. As tough as Master is, it is impossible for you fight against ten demon emperors at the same time, isn’t it?”
Li Yao was silent for a long time. The hunting of ten or so demon kings along with thousands of demon soldiers was enough to make him flee like a stray dog. It was needless to say what would happen if ten demon emperors were after him.
After days of escaping and evading, Li Yao had a profound understanding about the difference between personal combat ability and the combat ability of an army.
It was true that he was a super expert whose combat ability was close to the Nascent Soul Stage. For him, slaying a demon general was as easy as eating a loaf of bread.
However, anybody would be stuffed if they ate ten loaves of breads in one minute!
‘If a Nascent Soul Stage can kill a demon general easily in one second, he will easily take down sixty demon generals in one minute’ was equally hilarious as ‘Jack can eat one loaf of bread in a minute, so he can eat sixty loaves of bread in an hour’!
In a modern war, the role of the super experts was irreplaceable, but it did not mean that super experts were invincible and could do whatever they pleased. In a suitable environment, with appropriate arrangements, tremendous ordinary soldiers would have a chance to exhaust a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator or a demon emperor, too. Or rather, like bread, they ‘stuffed’ the enemies with their own lives!
“Alright. Let’s talk about the possibility of disguise and infiltration,” Li Yao said helplessly. “Is there any way for us to pretend to be the workers of the Pantheon of Demons?
“Other than the demon kings and demon emperors, there are certainly workers in the Pantheon of Demons, right? For example, demon emperors need to eat and poop, too, which means that they need cooks and cleaners, right? These workers cannot live on the floating mountains, can they?
“Furthermore, to maintain the normal functions of the floating mountains, the assets consumed every day must be astronomical. The garbage must be enormous, too. Therefore, many carriers are bound to deliver assets and carry garbage away on a daily basis, too. Can we work on that?”
“It is very difficult,” Jin Xinyue replied. “Of course, there are a lot of workers such as cooks and cleaners in the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons and the command center of the coalition army. Most of them live in the messy, crowded lower city. Every morning, special commuting beasts will bring them to the floating mountains at the periphery where they will be strictly examined before being sent to the central floating mountains together.
“The examinations on them are extremely rigorous. Not only will their blood, hair, fingerprints, irises, and voiceprint be tested, even their excrement will sometimes be tested, too. The headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons has domesticated countless demon beasts with sharp noses, including dung beetles whose genes have been specially modified. If so much as the scent of their excrement is any different from the day before, they will immediately be caught!
“Besides, although there are many workers, few can really meet the highest leaders such as my father. The examinations on such workers are ten times more stringent than those on the regular workers. They are essentially being scanned by demonic rays from inside to outside every day!
“It is impossible to sneak in by pretending to be one of them!”
Li Yao ground his teeth hard. “What about ventilation tubes? There’s a complicated ventilation system in every floating mountain, right?”
Li Yao had a thing for ventilation tubes.
Jin Xinyue shook her head and said, “The ventilation tubes are the highlights of the defense system. More than ten different defense measures have been adopted in the ventilation tubes in the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons. For example, high-voltage electric arcs in the ventilate tubes and pumping the air with high-speed fans. The iron gauze behind the fans has small holes, too, and can perceive anything that passes through, including a fly. Besides, the Flying Spirit Eyes and the demon beasts that are highly sensitive to heat and smell are distributed around the key nodes of the ventilate tubes.
“Let’s put it this way. If an intruder is unafraid of high-voltage electric shot, does not emit heat or smell, has a size smaller than a fly, and boasts a stealth ability all the way, there is a one in ten thousand likelihood that they can get in.
“However, the structural design of the ventilation tubes is top secret. There are too many branches, some of which are real, and some are false, like a maze. Even I don’t know the correct design. If an intruder moves into a wrong branch in carelessness, they will find themself in the most terrifying traps!”
“If that’s the case, the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons is indeed impregnable,” Li Yao said. “I have no choice except to perform my ultimate skill now!”
“What! You have a solution despite such difficulties, Master? That’s indeed marvelous of you!”
“How about we write a letter to your father?”
“…”
“Or in some other way. He must have a public communication channel, right? In the Heaven’s Origin Sector, we have things like ‘Speaker Hotline’ or ‘Speaker Mailbox’. We can even initiate online petitions. As long as the number of voters surpasses a certain threshold, the motion will be delivered to the Speaker of Parliament directly!”
“Of course, there is a communication system based on a super large biochemical neural network in the Blood Demon Sector, and many ways to contact my father. But as the commander-in-chief of the coalition army, he must be very busy now. All the messages that are sent to him will be handled through the command center. How should we introduce ourselves? We can’t tell them that you are an unparalleled expert from the Heaven’s Origin Sector and that you would like to speak to the commander-in-chief of the coalition army, can we?
“Besides, we are still unclear on how many of my father’s trusted subordinates have been compromised by Elder Nether Spring.
“Given the horror of Elder Nether Spring’s Spore Stratagem, it is impossible for him to have not made preparations to deal with my father!
“Think about it. When I met you for the first time, Master, the hunters after me included my big brother, Jin Wuxu, who is my father’s most trusted eldest son, and the Mirage Falcons, the best troop of the Feather Clan!
“If even my big brother Jin Wuxu has joined Elder Nether Spring, there will be no way that we can contact my father through regular channels!”
Li Yao frowned. “Speaking of which, I do have another question. Is it possible that your father has joined Elder Nether Spring’s cause, too?”
Jin Xinyue shook her head quickly. “Absolutely impossible. My father… How should I put it? He is a guy who values the interests of the demon race the most. There is no way that he would conspire with Elder Nether Spring. However, I don’t know whether or not they have been taking advantage of each other.”
Li Yao thought for a moment and said, “What if we make it big?
“For example, I can produce a batch of special crystal bombs, which will display enormous characters in the sky like colorful fireworks after they are detonated. With the precise explosions of hundreds of bombs, we will be able to send out a message of a few sentences!
“If we detonate the bombs in the lower city, you father will definitely see the message in the air clearly, right?”
Li Yao had played the move on Iron Plateau once before, and its result was rather satisfactory.
Jin Xinyue thought for a moment and nodded. “It’s a last resort if we don’t have any other choices, but the information contained in a few sentences is too limited. It’s impossible to describe the whole thing clearly!
“Besides, we are now faced with a problem that is barely solvable. Elder Nether Spring has basically blocked every option. We only have some solid evidence if we show up in front of my father in person!”
Jin Xinyue pointed at herself and then Li Yao. “I’ve turned from a demon into a human being, and Master can trigger such intense ‘demonic energy’ as a Cultivator. That is enough to prove theory that human beings and demons are of the same origin.
“Although there is still a long way to go from proving the same-origin theory to proving the existence of the Spore Stratagem, we will at least plant a seed of suspicion in my father’s heart! My father will be too prudent to neglect it!
“If it is just a few pieces of information in the sky, Elder Nether Spring can easily ask his accomplices to explain or rectify them.
“More importantly, we don’t have much time. The Red Tide Plan might break out at any moment. Once the main force of the coalition army of demons is teleported to the east of the Star Glory Federation through wormholes, everything will be too late!”
Li Yao realized that it did make sense. It would be child’s play if he could stop a military decision that would determine the future of a Sector by only a few words in the sky.
“What about habits and hobbies? Will your father leave the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons to train in the outside world?”
Jin Xinyue shook her head. “The headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons have the best training facilities. This is the critical moment before a great war. I don’t see any reason for my father to go out without a good reason.
“As for hobbies… He is like a cold machine. Power is his only hobby. Anyway, in my every memory of him, he is working, working, and working!”
They were at an impasse. Li Yao scratched his head and pursued further, “He does not have any hobby at all? Clothes, food, or anything that can be helpful!”
Jin Xinyue hesitated for a moment. “Well. If we are talking about hobbies…”
Chapter 983: Point of Breakthrough
Translator: Ash, Strivon Editor: The Enlightened Master Crouching Cow
“My father is not interested in the addictive cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs. He does not have any passion for girls or gambling, either. He is not even a maniac in training. He does not have any long-lasting habit, except that he likes to eat a ‘Star Spot Red Fire Oyster’ as a snack after work every day.”
Li Yao raised his eyebrow. “What is a Star Spot Red Fire Oyster? Is it very precious?”
“Not very precious,” Jin Xinyue said. “The Star Spot Red Fire Oyster is a sea animal that grows in the ‘Red Fire Bay’, a bay on the coastline of the Gold Crow Kingdom. It is both fresh and succulent. Just cut it open with a knife and dip it in the local seawater, and the food will be ready.
“It is said that a half-active volcano is at the bottom of the Red Fire Bay. The special minerals spurted out by the undersea volcano add different constituents to the water there, which is the cause of such a delicious food.
“Personally, I’ve never been a fan of it.
“The Star Spot Red Fire Oyster is a popular dish among the nobles of the Gold Crow Kingdom, not only because its flavor, but also because of the fun you have when you eat it.
“First of all, the shell of the Star Spot Red Fire Oyster has stripes that looks like fire and shooting stars. The stripes of every Star Spot Red Fire Oyster are entirely different. Everybody can enjoy and appreciate the stripes before they eat the food. The shells can be used to make decorations. It is quite an elegant lifestyle.
“Secondly, the two pieces of the shell of the Star Spot Red Fire Oyster bite each other very hard. One can only open them by the special knife with special techniques and patience. If one is really skilled, there will be a pleasant sound when the oyster is opened. However, if one opens it with brute force, they will not have the privilege of hearing the sound.
“Most importantly, there are occasionally crystals that look like pearls in the meat of the Star Spot Red Fire Oyster. We call them the ‘Red Balls’. The Red Balls are not anything precious, but they are extremely brilliant and beautiful. On their face, there are ever-changing patterns. If you aim the balls at the source of light, you will see a different pattern in every different angle. It could not be more spectacular.
“According to the traditions of the Gold Crow Kingdom, it is a very auspicious sign to meet a ‘Red Ball’ in the Star Spot Red Fire Oyster. There are even legends where the Red Balls were used in fortune telling in ancient times.
“Therefore, many experts of the Feather Clan have a habit of eating the Star Spot Red Fire Oyster every day. They might not be attracted by the flavor of the delicious food but are merely relaxing themselves with the tedious process of eating and the leisure when playing with the shell and the Red Ball.
“My father is no exception. Although he appears to be a machine, he is a living creature after all. After a day of busy work handling all kinds of affairs, he tends to be anxious and exhausted, too. Therefore, it has become a special relaxation method for him to have some Star Spot Red Fire Oysters every night.”
Li Yao narrowed his eyes, in which brilliance was bouncing like fire. He pondered and asked, “Is the Star Spot Red Fire Oyster your father eats unusual? Is it the same as what others eat?”
Jin Xinyue thought hard for a moment. “The Star Spot Red Fire Oyster only grows in the Red Fire Bay because it requires the nourishment of the undersea volcano. It cannot be farmed. The productivity is quite low.
“My father is the leader of the Feather Clan. Naturally, the Star Spot Red Fire Oysters that are the largest and looks most splendid, and those that the experienced fishermen believe to have ‘Red Balls’, are specially supplied to him.”
“Then, according to your estimation, after your father became the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons, even though he is far away from the Gold Crow Kingdom, do you think he will still keep the habit?”
Jin Xinyue nodded. “I think he will. Before he became the commander-in-chief, my father often went to Heavenly Path City for business and sometimes lived in Heavenly Path City for a long time. At that time, special flying demon beasts were designated to ship the Star Spot Red Fire Oysters to him by air. After all, the Gold Crow King masters the forces in the sky. Transportation by air is quite convenient and not very costly. Since he is the leader of the Feather Clan, such a hobby is not too extravagant.”
Li Yao blinked. “The food is delivered by air every day, not every few days?”
Jin Xinyue smiled and said, “You may not know this, Master, but the Star Spot Red Fire Oyster is the most vulnerable food. Once it leaves the seawater where it grows, it will decay within a few hours. Even if it is soaked in the original seawater, it will still not survive one day. Keeping them in the preservation rune arrays does not help, either.
“Freezing rune arrays can make the food last longer, but freezing and unfreezing will rid the food of its original flavor. With my father’s identity and position, wouldn’t be beneath him to eat such food?
“Therefore, when he lived in Heavenly Path City, the flying demon beasts shipped the raw Star Spot Red Fire Oysters as quickly as possible, sometimes with the help of teleportation arrays, at dusk every day. They would only need three hours to get to him.”
After hearing that, Li Yao took a long breath in relief. His lips curled into a mysterious smile as he said, “Therefore, after the Star Spot Red Fire Oyster is fished up, it will be shipped to your father as quickly as possible. Since the time is very short, there will not be too many examination procedures, will there?”
Jin Xinyue was dazed. She bulged her eyes and exclaimed, “Master, do you want—”
Li Yao thought for a moment and confirmed with her, “Is it possible that somebody will open all the Star Spot Red Fire Oysters first so that you father will enjoy the meat directly?”
Jin Xinyue shook her head quickly. “Absolutely not. When the nobles of the Gold Crow Kingdom enjoy the Star Spot Red Fire Oyster, it is the appearance of the food that they savor first. Then, they will have their fun by opening the shell slowly and looking for the ‘Red Ball’. It is not just the mouthful of meat that they are interested in. If the Star Spot Red Fire Oysters are opened in advance, the flavor of the meat will certainly change after it is exposed to the air for a long time, not to mention that all the fun will be gone. Wouldn’t it be a huge bummer?
“Everybody eats the food on their own. It is a tradition that has lasted thousands of years.”
“Then we’ve got a solution!” Li Yao slapped his thigh and took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Listen up. This is what we are going to do next.
“First of all, I am going to pump a syringe of blood and marrow from you. Rest assured. You are now in the Core Formation Stage after all. The marrow you lose will be refilled after a moment of rest.
“I planned to bring you back to the last base of the Blade of Chaos, but things have changed now. We cannot stay here for long, and there is no time for such a long journey.
“We can only store your blood and marrow in special biochemical storage tanks and put the tanks in the third rendezvous point so that Yuchi Ba and the rest of them will bring them back to the base.
“The Fire Ant King has already grasped a lot of experimental data and files regarding the ‘Demon God Virus’, including most of the genome. Soon, they will also have your blood and marrow, which contain the Divine Blood of Chaos. Let’s hope that they can produce vaccines and antidotes as quickly as possible!
“I will brief them on our latest progress and upcoming operations. I believe that Han Tuhu and Suo Chaolong, as two experts in tactics, will know what to do next!
“After the storage tanks are ready, we will go to Heavenly Path City and sneak into the crowded lower city, where we will make the most thorough preparations for our meeting with your father!
“After everything is set, we will go to the Red Fire Bay!
“But first of all, do you know of a place that houses tremendous crystals and magical equipment? Debris from the Heaven’s Origin Sector will work, too. I am in need of a lot of materials!”
Jin Xinyue was dazed for a moment before she replied, “A thousand and four hundred kilometers to our southeast, there is Ultimate Arms City. A great number of weapons, guns, crystal tanks, and even crystal suits that were captured in the Heaven’s Origin Sector are piled up there.
“All the magical equipment that is captured will be examined and tested in Ultimate Arms City. The repairable equipment will be picked out for the use of the coalition army of demons. The trophies that are beyond repair will serve as ‘targets’ or be dismantled into raw materials. Sometimes, they are replicated, too.
“Over the past hundreds of years, the Heaven’s Origin Sector has gradually surpassed the Blood Demon Sector in terms of weapon technology. This is more or less a way to supplement the gears of the coalition army of demons.
“But I wonder, what do you need the debris for?”
“I am going to produce bombs.” Li Yao licked his lips and said casually, “More crystal bombs.”
…
Ten days later, in the upper district of Heavenly Path City…
As the ‘Red Tide Plan’ was gradually set in motion, a second command center had been established in the commander-in-chief’s office. The vast commander center was packed with the biochemical brains that boasted the highest performance. Countless biochemical nerves were crawling on the walls like crimson vines. There were even the mainframe crystal processors that had been smuggled or captured from the Heaven’s Origin Sector. Light beams were blossoming above the heads of the thousand staff and generals. The bouncing numbers and changing shadows interweaved into unpredictable expressions on their faces.
Jin Tuyi was surrounded by an enormous circular light beam. More than ten biochemical nerves were connected to his brain and spine deeply like vipers from all the directions, sending the information provided by the main biochemical brains into his head incessantly. Billions of entries of data, images, and videos were flooding inside his brain uncontrollably. Despite the body build of the high-level demon emperor, he would still sometimes grimace in pain.
It was through such a method of information transmission, which bordered on torture, that he managed to master the most critical intelligence about the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector within a breath, including the latest updates on all the main-force troops of the Blood Demon Sector, the status of the defense lines of the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the traces of the sixteen crystal suit legions of the federation, and so on.
However, some of the information was true, some false. How much of the information was true, how much was false, how much of the information was true but had been leaked by the enemy intentionally, and how much of the information was false and yet was still telling what was on the enemy’s mind… Everything would have to be determined by his own head.
That was the responsibility of the commander-in-chief of the coalition army!
Chapter 984: Five Oysters
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Five minutes later, Jin Tuyi finished analyzing all the latest intelligence so far and sending out instructions through the biochemical nerves. Such instructions that were sent in the form of bioelectricity were more efficient and secretive than telepathic thoughts, which were often utilized by Cultivators.
The biochemical brains, with the operations of the staff, translated Jin Tuyi’s instructions into more specific and practical commands and transmitted them to the nerve endings which constituted the enormous beast that was the coalition army of demons.
The enormous beast had opened its bloody mouth slowly and bared the sharpest fangs, ready for the ultimate strike!
So far, so good.
The Star Glory Federation seemed to be ignorant of the Red Tide Plan. Although they were prepared for the pending attacks of the coalition army in the north of the Grand Desolate Plateau, and three crystal suit legions had been dispatched to the Giant Blade Pass, the ocean east to the federation was still tranquil and unguarded.
In the meantime, the main force of the coalition army had finished gathering and was moving toward the target. Once the army arrived, they would be ready to launch a thunderous strike at any time!
However, Jin Tuyi did not receive the two pieces of information that he had expected, ones that were of paramount importance.
The glimmers in his eyes bounced slightly. The biochemical nerves connected to the back of Jin Tuyi’s head and spine uncoupled one by one. He warmed up his rigid body and sighed in great relief while his bones and muscles were emitting weird noises.
“Father!”
His eldest son, the commander of the Mirage Falcon troop, who had been waiting respectfully behind him, immediately stepped forward and helped him move to the relaxation room.
It was too heavy a burden to have super high-intensity interactions with the main biochemical brains for an entire day even for a demon emperor. To maintain the activity of their brain so that it would be able to function at a high speed the next day, it was a reasonable ritual for a demon emperor to take a rest in the relaxation room for an hour or two after a day’s tedious work.
In the relaxation room, Jin Wuxu stood behind Jin Tuyi. He massaged his father’s shoulder while he concentrated his voice into a line, sending the soundwaves directly into his father’s ears in the feeblest quakes.
“Father, the investigation on Elder Nether Spring using the Gold Crow Kingdom’s own intelligence network has been completed. The conclusion is the same as that drawn by the intelligence system of the Pantheon of Demons. Recently, he has been dutifully chasing after the remnants of the Blade of Chaos. There are no anomalies.
“It seems that he has indeed admitted his failure. Or maybe, he has seen through the current situation and realized that the Star Glory Federation is the greatest enemy for all of us. Internal strife right now would do nobody any good!
“The investigations into the rumors of the Imperium of True Human Beings and the ‘Demon God Virus’ are coming to an end, too. The results are the same. We did not find any suspicious points based on the investigation report of the Pantheon of Demons. As of now, there is no evidence whatsoever that can prove the validity of the two theories. It can be confirmed now that they are absolutely strategical deceptions of the Star Glory Federation!
“This is not the first time that the shameless human beings have played such dirty tricks. Didn’t they concoct the sordid ‘Giant Crab Plan’ during the Battle of Dawn, hoping to swallow all our main force? This time, it must be another strategical deception!”
Jin Tuyi’s face remained unchanged. He waved his hands in fatigue and said casually, “Alright. You may leave now. Do your job. The Red Tide Plan is going to be activated very soon. I hope that your Mirage Falcons will be the first demon troop to march onto the eastern coastline of the Star Glory Federation!”
“Understood!”
Jin Wuxu held his chest high, turned around, and left.
When he left, he happened to pass by the cook who was delivering the ‘Star Spot Red Fire Oysters’ to Jin Tuyi.
Naturally, the commander-in-chief’s residence had its own waiters and cooks. According to the rules, all the food should have been brought by the waiters who had received professional training and had absolutely clean backgrounds.
However, the cook was an old servant from the Gold Grow Kingdom who had worked for Jin Tuyi even before he became the leader of the Feather Clan. He had proved his loyalty and was well trusted by Jin Tuyi.
The Star Spot Red Fire Oysters that Jin Tuyi enjoyed every night were made by the cook and delivered to him by the cook in person every day.
The Star Spot Red Fire Oyster did not require much cooking, but the cook had a certain skill to decorate food. The Star Spot Red Fire Oysters arranged by him were like a piece of artwork that nobody was willing to destroy.
The cook bowed before Jin Tuyi.
Right now, the relaxation room was empty except for the two of them.
Everybody knew Jin Tuyi’s habit. When he was enjoying the Star Spot Red Fire Oysters, he did not like anybody around other than the cook, not even his own son.
Bo!
Jin Tuyi opened the first oyster with a crisp sound as if a silver pebble hitting a jade tray. The echoed like a running brook and did not die down for a long time.
Jin Tuyi half narrowed his eyes, and the muscles all over his body were loosened.
Right next to him, the cook who was serving him dutifully suddenly said, “The loyalty investigation targeting the first prince has been completed. No evidence suggests that he has conspired with Elder Nether Spring.”
Bo!
Jin Tuyi opened the second oyster. He put the shivering, juicy meat into his mouth and chewed slowly and carefully, as if he was enjoying delicious wine.
The cook continued. “The investigations that the first prince performed revealed no anomalies, either. There is no proof to link Elder Nether Spring to the ‘Demon God Virus’. The validity of the ‘Demon God Virus’ and the Imperium of True Human Beings cannot be proved, either. It is highly likely that they are the strategical deceptions of the Star Glory Federation.”
Bo!
Jin Tuyi opened the third oyster. However, his knife halted. He suddenly lowered the knife and raised it up, moving apart the meat that was as soft as a petal and picking out a crimson ball the size of fish eye without damaging the intactness of the meat.
Jin Tuyi put on a smile. He held the Red Ball with his fingertips, rubbing, playing, and pondering.
The cook’s face remained unchanged. Instead of adulating Jin Tuyi on his luck, he continued reporting in a voice devoid of any emotion. “Although no evidence has been found, we have still strengthened the control over the Mirage Falcon troop as per your command. Should there be anything wrong, the first prince and his trusted subordinates will be executed instantly, and the Mirage Falcon troop will all be yours to command.”
Jin Tuyi moved his knife toward the fourth oyster. He finally opened his mouth and asked casually, “What about that matter?”
“No updates,” the cook replied. “After showing up in ‘Ultimate Arms City’ nine days ago, slaying hundreds of guardians and looting a huge amount of debris and crystals, both targets have disappeared.
“Including ‘Ape Fiend’ Yuan Riyue’s son, there are already seven disciples and blood descendants of the twelve demon emperors who have been slain by the mysterious expert. Right now, he is the most hateful target for the twelve demon emperors. Yuan Riyue has even gone mad and dedicated himself to the search of the mysterious expert without considering military affairs at all.
“Even Yuan Riyue hasn’t found him yet. It is evident that the two of them are hiding themselves well.
“However, if they are indeed Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators from the Heaven’s Origin Sector, it will truly not be easy to find them after they hide themselves.
“The real problem is, what is their purpose exactly? None of the members of our ‘Dark Cloak Society’ can figure out their motivation.”
Jin Tuyi’s curved knife was moving easily in the gap of the shell, which was extremely tight. But his eyes pierced through the wall of the relaxation room, the complicated, heavily-guarded floating mountain, toward somewhere far, far away.
No matter how solid the shell was and how narrow the gaps were, there was always a way to crack it. As long as the most critical point was located, one would be able to open the oyster effortlessly.
Then, what about the ‘shell’ that was covering him?
The Pantheon of Demons boasted the most immaculate defense system, with dozens of procedures of thorough examination. They were surrounded by patrol teams made of the Mirage Falcons, Ghost Jellyfish, Colorful Locusts, and Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes as well as the protection of dozens of devilish warships. All possible vulnerabilities had been sealed.
This was a ‘shell’ that could not be broken in any way, one without the tiniest gap!
What would somebody do if they wanted to break into such a shell?
Jin Tuyi did not know.
But his knife came to an abrupt halt when it pierced into the fifth oyster.
For about 0.01 seconds, weird brilliance was shining on Jin Tuyi’s face.
Before his facial nerves reacted, he had already suppressed his astonishment.
“I’m a bit tired,” Jin Tuyi said casually. “You may leave now if you don’t have other intelligence.”
“My lord.”
The cook bowed and left, closing the door of Jin Tuyi’s relaxation room behind him.
The moment the door was closed, Jin Tuyi darted three streams of invisible demonic energy toward the gaps on the door.
Then, he turned around and focused his attention on the Star Spot Red Fire Oyster right in his hands.
At first glance, it was just a common oyster. The shape of the edge of the shell and the fiery stripes on the surface were not any different from those on other oysters.
Jin Tuyi could even sense a tiny wave of vigor from inside the shell.
The oyster was still alive at this moment.
Of course, if it was not an alive, authentic Star Spot Red Fire Oyster, how could it have passed through the multiple examinations and been delivered to him?
However, when he cut off two strong nerves deep inside the oyster with the knife, Jin Tuyi keenly sensed a subtle difference.
The nerves that controlled the opening and closing of the shell had already been broken once!
Somebody has already opened the shell once, but he then closed the shell through a special technique. Even the oyster was kept alive and not killed!
Pondering, Jin Tuyi slowly triggered his demonic energy and formed a shield right in front of him. He then retrieved quite a few pieces of defense magical equipment from his Cosmos Rings and put on all of them.
It was not until then that he raised the knife and opened the weird oyster!
Chapter 985: First Interaction
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
The vague stink that belonged to the raw meat could be smelt from the shell. Even the unique freshness resembling the scent of lychee was still there. It was almost like a real, natural oyster.
Jin Tuyi could even sense the sea wind of the Red Fire Bay from it.
But he knew for a fact that somebody had touched the oyster.
At the back of the shell that he had just opened, three overlapping preservation rune arrays had been carved in the tiniest strokes.
Jin Tuyi had never seen anybody who could carve such neat and perfect rune arrays whose purpose was nothing other than to preserve food.
It was because of the preservation rune arrays, and a tiny proportion of cell activation liquids in the meat, that the oyster had remained alive for now after it was opened by brute force.
Later, the guy had injected a smidgen of a muscle constriction drug to the nerves that controlled the shell so that the shell was closed. Before the shell was fully close, the guy had even smeared a tiny bit of natural glue on the two sides of the shell, making the oyster appear to be untouched and unopened.
Jin Tuyi narrowed his eyes and attempted the whole process. To his surprise, he found that he was not able to do it.
The oyster couldn’t have been kept open for long. If it were longer than three seconds, the meat inside would have decayed and emitted a vague smelly scent. The seasoned fishers and cooks definitely would’ve discovered it and thrown away the ‘dead oyster’.
In three seconds, the guy had to expand the shell, carve three mini preservation rune arrays, inject the cell activation drug, and smear the natural glue. He could not touch the meat during the entire process. Otherwise, the meat might have been contaminated and decayed, too.
What a pair of stable hands that the guy who modified the oyster must have, and how unbelievable his control over the muscles on his hand was!
An expert. This is truly an expert!
Jin Tuyi cut open the meat carefully with the knife. As he expected, he found a ‘Red Ball’ below the meat in the middle of two nerves.
Compared to the Red Ball that he had discovered just now, which was only the size of rice, the new Red Ball was multiple times larger. It was approximately the size of a thumb, with floating stripes on the surface as if it were a painting of the great nature. There was no doubt that it was one of the best Red Balls.
Jin Tuyi was not moved. He put down the knife and groped on the Red Ball carefully.
It was not until one minute later that he finally found a gap that was a hundred times thinner than a hair on the surface of the Red Ball, which was as smooth as silk and jade.
Jin Tuyi’s pupils shrank violently.
This is not a Red Ball but a piece of magical equipment based on a Red Ball. An intact Red Ball has been dissected and then stitched together!
The stitching is so perfect that the joint can be barely felt. Perhaps only those with the senses of demon emperors are capable enough of perceiving it!
The one who built it must be a super master of refining!
Jin Tuyi focused a stream of his demonic energy and cut the gap at the center of the Red Ball softly like the sharpest fretsaw.
He was so patient that barely any powder of the Red Ball dropped to the table.
One minute later, the gap was finally widened a little bit. He grabbed the two sides of the Red Ball and pulled it apart. The Red Ball was immediately divided into two hollow halves.
The item hidden inside the Red Ball dropped down.
It was a tiny Cosmos Ring.
At the center of the Cosmos Ring, a small capsule was embedded.
The capsule was divided into two zones. One of the zones stored a long hair, while the other stored a drop of blood.
What a neat approach to have chosen the Red Ball to deliver the item. The weight and center of gravity of the item were extremely accurate. If the Red Ball was not dissected but simply weighed in the hands, nobody would have been able to notice anything wrong!
What’s the meaning of the hair and the blood?
Jin Tuyi crushed one side of the capsule and took out the long hair. He wrapped it around his finger and perceived it with his soul carefully.
The hair seemed to belong to a certain girl, one that was extremely close to him.
As for the drop of blood…
Jin Tuyi pondered for a long time before he picked up the Cosmos Ring.
The Cosmos Ring was not installed with any retrieval barriers. Anybody would have been able to activate it and retrieve the items inside at their will as long as they sank their soul into it.
There were only two items in the Cosmos Ring.
One of them was a ragged, simple light beam projector, and the other was a piece of weird magical equipment that was a hundred times more hideous than the first one and looked like a pile of garbage.
With his profound knowledge, Jin Tuyi managed to distinguish that the magical equipment should have been a point-to-point communicator for the miners of the Heaven’s Origin Sector.
Through such a communicator, one would be able to have a video chat with someone who was holding another communicator within the range of a hundred square kilometers.
On the shell of the light beam projector, three big words had been written.
“Dad, read me!”
The familiar handwriting startled Jin Tuyi. He wreathed the light beam projector with a stream of his demonic energy before leaking his demonic energy into the rig and performing the most thorough examination of every component.
He did not find any anomalies. After making sure that it was not a crystal bomb that had been modified into the appearance of a light beam projector, he activated it softly.
Shua!
A bluish mystic ray shot out of the top of the light beam projector and formed Li Yao’s and Jin Xinyue’s 3D images in midair.
Of course, it was the Jin Xinyue who had washed away all the disguises and regained her original face.
Jin Tuyi’s eyes were twitching violently when he saw the girl who was identical to his daughter except for the lack of a pair of wings.
However, he did not talk, nor would it make any difference. Such a light beam projector did not support communication functions and could only play the videos that were recorded in advance.
“Father!” Jin Xinyue’s 3D image suddenly greeted him in a delightful voice. “I know that thousands of questions are rolling over on your heart right now. Believe me, if you give us half an hour, we will totally be able to explain everything to you!
“First of all, to make you believe that it is your daughter, Jin Xinyue, who is speaking right now, we have stored one of my hairs and a droplet of my blood in the Red Ball. I believe that you must have your ways to determine whether or not they are real!
“Then, allow me to introduce to you a Cultivator from the Heaven’s Origin Sector. He is Vulture Li Yao, Senior Li. Now, he is also my master and will be the only one in my life!
“No matter how implausible that video clip is to you, please at least give us half an hour. It is of paramount importance for everybody in the Blood Demon Sector, the Heaven’s Origin Sector, and the Flying Star Sector!”
Jin Tuyi took a long, long breath. Holding the knife, he listened calmly.
Li Yao coughed and said, “Senior Jin, I am Vulture Li Yao, the Cultivator who left the Heaven’s Origin Sector from Boneyard ten years ago. I believe you must’ve heard my name before. Also, I am the one who has been raising trouble in the Blood Demon Sector.
“In a moment, I will briefly explain everything that has happened in the past ten years, including the details of the Imperium of True Human Beings and the scheme that is going on in the Blood Demon Sector right now.
“I believe that you will certainly make a sensible judgement after you hear my introduction with your wisdom!
“If you grow suspicious, if not interested, about everything after you listen to my introduction, you are welcome to contact us through the point-to-point communicator.
“Yes, we are current at a certain point within a hundred kilometers of you. Perhaps you can summon all the forces of Heavenly Path City to chase after us, but I suggest you do not rush into anything.
“We went through all the trouble to arrive in Heavenly Path City, and we do not intend to run away so easily. Even if you want to capture us, at least wait until we have said everything we must say!
“However, we cannot speak to each other directly because the point-to-point communicator for miners will release feeble spiritual waves when it is activated. The spiritual waves can be captured very easily to locate the two parties engaged in the conversation.
“We are not sure whether or not those around you are trustworthy. If the supervisor of the whole scheme learns that we have already reached out to each other, we don’t know what actions he will take.
“Therefore, this is what we are going to do next.
“Over the past couple of days, we have wandered in the lower district of Heavenly Path City and found a hundred suitable locations where we planted tremendous crystal bombs.
“At midnight, the crystal bombs will be detonated one after another. Spiritual energy will be blown into the sky like fireworks and condensed into enormous characters.
“On the surface, we will be sending over the simplest information to you in such a violent way because there is no way that we can sneak into the Pantheon of Demons and we are left with no choice.
“But our real purpose is to create an area that is dominated by sweeping spiritual waves in the sky of Heavenly Path City through the ‘firework bombs’, which have quite a long duration. The sky will be a mess!
“At midnight, when the fireworks bombs are detonated, you will be able to contact us through the point-to-point communicator. By then, the feeble spiritual waves that the point-to-point communicator releases will be drowned in the intense spiritual waves caused by the fireworks bombs, like a spark that is hidden in an overwhelming wildfire. Only in such a way can we escape others’ attention!
“Now, please listen to me carefully, and make sure that you are in an absolute safe place where you can talk to us without interference around midnight.
“This is very important. The future of the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, and the Flying Star Sector will depend on your decision!”
Jin Tuyi put his hands on the bridge of his nose, which looked like a saber. He listened to Li Yao in complete tranquility for half an hour. His facial expression did not change at all even when Li Yao was talking about the most soul-stirring twists. Even Elder Nether Spring’s Spore Stratagem did not raise the slightest astonishment in his eyes.
Half an hour later, Jin Tuyi returned everything to the Cosmos Ring and hid the Cosmos Ring by his chest. Then, he released a stream of intense demonic energy to obliterate the feeble spiritual waves caused when the light beam projector was functioning.
Jin Tuyi opened the door of the relaxation room and walked out. He waved his hands impatiently to the guards who were greeting him. “I am going to have a three-hour deep sleep. Nobody is to disturb me for anything during the period!”
Chapter 986: Secret Dialogue!
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
With a great war drawing near, although it was midnight, Heavenly Path City was still as bright and raucous as the day.
Countless devilish warships and large flying demon beasts were landing and taking off from the ports around Heavenly Path City amid earsplitting jetting and screeching noises.
The Mirage Falcons, Ghost Jellyfish, and Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes were monitoring the hundred square kilometers nearby dutifully. Countless Flying Spirit Eyes were glittering in the darkness as if thousands of fireflies were hovering in the sky of the city.
In every place of Heavenly Path City, many pairs of eyes were receiving pictures through the remote brainwaves. In the pictures, every corner of the city was in order and peace.
Suddenly—
BOOM! CRACK!
From somewhere in the messy, chaotic lower district of Heavenly Path City, a dazzling fireball suddenly broke out!
A moment later, a streak of brightness darted into the sky, leaving a long tail behind, before it burst out into the most glamorous colors.
The colorful spots of light condensed a giant, shining word in the dark night sky.
WE
As the stripes gradually condensed into letters, the intense spiritual waves spread out, stirring up the pool of frozen water and raising a shocking tsunami in all the defense forces of Heavenly Path City!
Earsplitting alarms were echoing nonstop. Three devilish warships made an emergency take-off. Countless demons were roaring and running to the ports, activating even more devilish warships. The Mirage Falcons, Ghost Jellyfish, and Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes suddenly accelerated. All the conspicuous defense arrays dropped their camouflage and bared the sharpest fangs!
BOOM! CRACK!
The second batch of crystal bombs was launched into the sky and exploded into spectacular fireworks. The fire interweaved into the second word.
ARE
After the few words ‘WE ARE HERE FOR PEACE‘ were shot into the sky one after another, the entire Heavenly Path City was in a mess. Soldiers were marching into the lower district, looking for the source of the crystal bombs. However, in the lower district, which was crowded and disordered, their intrusion was only causing greater panic and confusion.
New crystal bombs, however, were still being launched toward the sky one after another, filling the entire sky with intense spiritual waves. In the end, mysterious colors that resembled an aurora filled the sky.
The troops responsible for the defense of Heavenly Path City were almost on fire in anxiety!
In the chaos, barely anybody noticed that an extremely feeble spiritual wave was sent out of the commander-in-chief’s residence.
Like a streak of smoke and a shivering, unpredictable shooting star, it darted toward the ground, somewhere in the depths of Heavenly Path City.
Li Yao had finally reached out to Jin Tuyi, purportedly the highest leader of the Blood Demon Sector and the commander-in-chief of the coalition army!
Somewhere in the lower district of Heavenly Path City, in a dark, shabby, half-underground room, Li Yao could not help but waved his hands in excitement when Jin Tuyi’s tall and slender body slowly appeared on the point-to-point communicator. He shouted in the bottom of his heart, Hooray!
However, reaching out to each other was only step one.
The biggest problem at hand was how to convince Jin Tuyi!
The intense waves caused by the exploding crystal bombs above his head covered the existence of such a communicate route perfectly, but they had brought tremendous interference to the dialogue, too.
In the picture, Jin Tuyi was warped by the waves that looked like snowflakes every now and then, making him even more unpredictable and mysterious.
Jin Tuyi stared at his daughter for a moment before he turned around and observed Li Yao.
There was not astonishment or fury after he saw that his daughter had turned from a demon into a human being. There was not worry or anxiety that he should have for Elder Nether Spring’s scheme. There was not anger toward Li Yao, a Cultivator from the Heaven’s Origin Sector who had raised a great disaster in the Blood Demon Sector. Instead, the only thing on his face was nonchalance that was almost too tranquil.
“Senior Jin!”
Li Yao had to seize the time to persuade Jin Tuyi before all the fireworks bombs exploded, or at least plant a seed of suspicion in his heart. “Have you seen the video that we sent over? Believe me. It is exactly the demon race’s origin! Human beings and demons are essentially the same. There is no reason we should perish with each other! Look at your daughter Jin Xinyue. After absorbing excessive Divine Blood of Chaos, her cells have been completely restored to the original state, and she has transformed into a human being!
“As for me—”
Li Yao extended his left hand and burnt his cells, with the glittering crystal protruded out of his palm. “Although I am a Cultivator, I am able to utilize techniques such as ‘Cell Obliteration Cannon’! This is all undeniable evidence that can prove everything I’ve said!”
“Exactly, Father!” Jin Xinyue raised her voice. “This is really me. I have turned from a demon into a human being. There must be a great plot in all this! My big brother tried to kill me with the Mirage Falcons. He even had the help of the elites from the Nether Spring Kingdom, the Kingdom of Lion Butchers, and the Sea Dominator Kingdom! Did you know about it?
“If you did not know all about it, or even anything about it, it is very obvious that your intelligence network, your most trusted subordinates who serve as your ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’, has been compromised by Elder Nether Spring!
“Everything we said is true! You must believe us!”
Jin Tuyi looked at them peacefully for a long time before he said slowly, “It was indeed very thoughtful of you to come up with the idea of hiding a Cosmos Ring into a Star Spot Red Fire Oyster and delivering it to me through all the examination procedures. With the appreciation of your marvelous approach, I was patient enough to watch your video, and I decided to waste some of my precious time to talk to you.
“However, if such jibber-jabber is everything that you want to tell me, it will be still too much a waste of my time.
“Same-origin theory? Turning from a demon into a human being? Interesting. Very interesting.
“But so what?
“Even if the same-origin theory is true, and demons were truly transformed from human beings forty thousand years ago, even if you are truly my daughter Jin Xinyue who has changed into a human being after absorbing certain drugs, what can any of that prove?
“Is it enough to prove the existence of the Imperium of True Human Beings or the validity of the Spore Stratagem? Is it enough to prove that Elder Nether Spring is associated with the scheme?
“No. You can prove none of that!”
Jin Xinyue was rather anxious. “Father, please wait for our explanation—”
Jin Tuyi interrupted her coldly. “Even if you are really my daughter Jin Xinyue, so what? To avenge your birth mother, you killed your stepmother, which almost caused the division of the two greatest noble families of the Gold Crow Kingdom.
“You conspired with my seventh son to kill my ninth son, and then conspired with my eldest son to kill my seventh son. You also sold secret intelligence of the Gold Crow Kingdom to the Kingdom of Lion Butchers and false intelligence of the Nether Spring Kingdom to the Sea Dominator Kingdom.
“After your scheme was discovered, you even killed a princess of the Sea Dominator Kingdom. Did you know that the Sea Dominator Kingdom has been our hardcore ally?”
Jin Xinyue coughed hard and failed up come up with a reply.
“By the way,” Jin Tuyi said casually, “you didn’t cover you trace well when you murdered the princess of the Sea Dominator Kingdom. It was me who wiped your ass for you.
“If you only did such things, I could still try to hold myself. After all, among all my blood descendants, I always thought most highly of you, other than my eldest son. Although your methods were still too naïve and flawed, your brutality was enough.
“However, you were also secretly planning to kill me, weren’t you? How would you like to explain that?”
Dumbfounded, Li Yao looked at Jin Xinyue.
Jin Xinyue opened her hands. “After killing my stepmother and doing so many clandestine things, of course, I was scare that you might find out, and it’s not like I would wash my neck clean and wait for you to kill me when you learned everything and burst into fury trying to avenge your most beloved wife.
“Naturally, I had to make preparations in advance. Although the attempts might have been futile, they were still better than waiting to be killed. Is there anything wrong with that? I didn’t know that you were so broadminded, Father, and that you could pretend that you did not know you wife had been killed by your daughter!”
Li Yao remained silent, having nothing to add.
“Therefore,” Jin Tuyi said casually, “if I state that you surrendered to the Star Glory Federation a long time ago because you feared that your crimes would be exposed and because you wanted to realize your ambitions, and you are now here to perform a strategical deception in order to postpone the date of the final war, you will not be able to refute such a possibility, will you?
“As for the fact that you turned into a human being from a demon, it was perhaps because of some new technique developed by the Star Glory Federation.
“As far as I know, the Heavenly Capital Medical School and the First Federal Military Medical University in the Star Glory Federation boast quite a high potential in biochemical technology, cell mutation, and the relative fields. It is not entirely unbelievable to think that they made a breakthrough that the Blood Demon Sector hasn’t made yet in a certain aspect.”
Jin Xinyue blinked for a long time, unable to come up with a rebuttal.
Li Yao vaguely found that Jin Tuyi was taking the initiative of the conversation. He hurried to interrupt, “Senior Jin, whether you believe in Jin Xinyue or not, at the very least, the changes that have happened to me and her prove the correctness of the ‘same-origin theory’. They also suggest that demons and human beings can be transformed into each other. Then, why do we have to fight against each other to the point of mutual destruction?”
Jin Tuyi smiled casually. “What does the war have to do with our race? Over the past forty thousand years, the number of Cultivators killed by Cultivators is at least ten times larger than the number of Cultivators killed by demons, and dozens of times more demons have been killed by the claws and teeth of demons than those killed by the flying swords of the Cultivators! Even if I accept the same-origin theory and acknowledge that we belong to the same species, so what? Does it have anything to do with the war between us?”
Li Yao was dazed. He had thought that the trickiest part was to convince Jin Tuyi of the ‘same-origin’ theory. It did not occur to him that the guy would accept theory so quickly and the real problem would actually be something else.
Jin Tuyi continued. “Did you believe that, since the Divine Blood of Chaos can turn demons back into human beings, it can terminate the war between us and bring the valuable peace?”
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao nodded. “It’s indeed what I thought.”
Jin Tuyi laughed. “Then, would you like to turn into monkeys, the ancestors of human beings hundreds of thousands of years ago?”
Li Yao gritted his teeth. He realized what Jin Tuyi meant.
Jin Tuyi’s smile gradually turned into cold brilliance. He moved closer to the camera and said, one word after another, “If you are not willing to turn into a monkey, what makes you think that demons will be willing to turn into human beings? What do you think ‘human being’ stands for? Is it really an honorable, glorious identity that is worth being proud of?”
Chapter 987: Three Sectors in One, Invincible in the Universe!
Translator: Ash, Strivon Editor: The Enlightened Master Crouching Cow
Li Yao hurried to interject. “We are not talking about honor but survival! The Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector are on par with each other. If the war proceeds, we will both be dragged into the abyss of doom. Nether demons nor human beings will be able to laugh to the end! If we fight each other, the Imperium of True Human Beings will take all the advantage! When the expedition army of the Imperium of True Human Beings marches here, I won’t be able to be a monkey even if I want to!
“Senior Jin, as the commander-in-chief of the coalition army, you have the future of the entire Blood Demon Sector on your shoulders. Think about the possibility I just described. Do not let all the demons of the Blood Demon Sector die in your hands!”
Jin Tuyi was amused. He shook his head and said, “I do find it a bit unbelievable right now. How did such a childish man like yourself come up with such a flawless infiltration plan while ensuring that all the details are immaculate?
“Let’s put your groundless words aside for a moment, which, for the record, are just a joke in my eyes.
“Even if I am convinced by you, so what? Do you think that, just because I am the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons and the nominal monarch of the Blood Demon Sector, I can stop the world war with a declaration?
“Let me tell you something. The war is not started by me alone. The real starter of the war is the general will of the twelve demon emperors of the Pantheon of Demons, or rather, the general will of all the demon emperors, demon kings, all the silver-blood demons, and even the entire demon race! It is the will of the Blood Demon Sector that started the war before I was elected as the representative of the ‘war will’!
“Once a war machine is activated, it will be alive. Like a ravenous, quickly-growing beast, nobody can stop it from maturing and raging, not even its creator!
“I became the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons and the nominal monarch of the Blood Demon Sector not because of my charisma, not because of my personal combat ability, but because I am the one who is most suitable to push the war forward right now!
“The bottom line is, the ‘commander-in-chief of the coalition army’ is just a tiny rivet on the steering wheel of the enormous war machine or a relatively conspicuous tusk in the mouth of the war beast!
“Do you believe this? If I convene a meeting of the twelve demon emperors at this second, and I declare that ‘human beings and demons are of the same origin, and we should seek reconciliation instead of attacking each other’, I will be killed by the other eleven demon emperors collectively in the next second, and a new commander-in-chief of the coalition army, who is colder, crueler, and hates human beings a hundred times more than I do, will be assigned the next second to continue carrying out the will of the enormous beast!
“This is a war. This is the will of a people. You think that, by convincing or killing a certain someone, it will be enough to stop a people from going mad? I am growing more and more suspicious about how you are distributing your computational ability as a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator.”
Li Yao was rendered speechless, with cold sweat covering his forehead.
With a glimmer of contempt in his eyes, Jin Tuyi sighed and said, “It is impossible. The nation has already gone insane. It is rushing at full speed on the cliff of destruction. There is no way that you or I can stop it!
“This is an abnormal, congenitally deficient nation—a freak that is born in the fire of war. It only survives to this day through the benefits of wars. But in order to loot more war benefits, the nation is dedicating more and more resources to wars like a snowball! To get resources, it must wage a war, and to wage a war, it must collect even more resources. The vicious cycle of war is everything about the nation. Without wars, the nation will fall apart! How are you going to stop it?
“I have some boring data here. Would you like to hear it?
“In the last fiscal year, the military budge of the nation was 34% of the GDP, not counting the indirect expenses such as the excessive infrastructure for the usage of wars. If such costs are taken into consideration, perhaps half of the resources of the entire nation have been poured into wars. This is certainly ‘military above everything’!
“In this nation, soldiers who do not work and only fight take up 15% of the whole population. Roughly speaking, every five civilians are supporting a soldier who will consume tremendous resources!
“To support the enormous war machine, the government is not only levying dozens of kinds of fancy war taxes, defense taxes, and legion construction fees, but also taking from the budges of other fields such as education, medical care, and insurance. Still, the deficit is getting huger and huger. Perhaps, in the next ten years, the gap will be beyond repair, and the government will collapse!
“To reduce the deficit, and to make a fortune through wars, the government and the major forces of the nation are all selling war bonds and victory funds, attracting the ordinary citizens and the bottom-level soldiers with trophies and war benefits so that they will devote the last coin in their pocket into the endeavor again.
“But whatever the war bonds and the victory funds are, they can only be redeemed with a complete victory and the tremendous war benefits that are looted during the war!
“In front of you right now is exactly such an insane country!
“Now, just with a few words of yours, you are trying to make the nation stop the war in exchange for worthless peace?
“Let me tell you something. If the war ends today, the government and the top hundred forces in the nation will all collapse tomorrow! The only reason they can survive to this day is that the public believes that they will bring a satisfactory victory and an astronomical quantity of trophies tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or the day after!
“Do you understand now? We are not talking about the difference between human beings and demons, not rightness and evilness, not the existence of the Imperium of True Human Beings; we are talking about the simplest question of benefits!”
Li Yao took a long breath and said firmly, “I understand that the Blood Demon Sector is a barren world that is already on the verge of collapse because of the shortage of resources. You need a war to survive, but I believe that there must be a second approach!
“Wars bring resources, but communication will, too. The Blood Demon Sector, the Heaven’s Origin Sector, and the Flying Star Sector are highly complementary to each other! If we dedicate our resources to communication and construction instead of a war, we will be able to cast our influence on an even broader world!
“The handiest example is Boneyard!
“Boneyard is only ten thousand lightyears away from us. Although it is not easy to reach the place with the teleportation technology of the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector, the Flying Star Sector actually boasts very mature space jump technology and starship production technology!
“Even if we do reach Boneyard, the environment there is too harsh, with overwhelming tsunamis every now and then. Therefore, it is impossible for the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector to develop it on their own. But with the help of demons whose bodies are strong enough for the rough environment, we will be able to develop Boneyard profoundly and collect all the available resources on it!
“After all, demons were created in the first place because human beings tried to survive on the planets with harsh environments and therefore performed minor modification on their bodies!
“It doesn’t matter whether or not you are willing to turn into human beings. What matters now is that our technology and benefits can be combined in order to explore a large space of survival instead of fighting in the small pond until there are no winners left in the end!
“Boneyard will only be a start.
“The Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector are two worlds with a single galaxy. We have only one star in the entire Sector. Other than the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector, other planets are neither habitable nor boast too many resources that are of use to us. It is also one of the reasons we have to attack each other.
“But the Flying Star Sector is different. In the territory of the Star Ocean Imperium, the Flying Star Sector was a prosperous world that was closer to the heartland of the imperium, with dozens of galaxies and hundreds of resource planets!
“The Flying Star Sector is vast and sparsely populated. The citizens of the Flying Star Sector are not able to develop the resource planets where the environment is usually harsh. Instead, they encounter many dangers in the boundless sea of stars!
“But if the Flying Star Sector, the Heaven’s Origin Sector, and the Blood Demon Sector join hands, we will be able to develop the resource planets and establish a new universal fleet with the resources that we collect as a foundation. We will be able to explore more Sectors and let more worlds join the embrace of the alliance!
“The new alliance will be able to collect and utilize resources at an efficiency dozens of times higher than any of the three Sectors right now. The combination of the studies of spiritual energy and biochemistry will also yield even more magnificent warriors and weapons!
“Only such an alliance will be able to compete with the Imperium of True Human Beings and protect our home!
“This is a future that I have come up with after considering for a long time. Perhaps it is still too immature and groundless, and there will certainly be many problems. But Senior Jin, don’t you think that such a future is thousands of times better than the destruction of the Blood Demon Sector when it goes down the path of active aggression?”
Jin Tuyi stared at Li Yao silently for a long time.
Right when Li Yao thought that he had been convinced, Jin Tuyi laughed again.
There was derision in every wrinkle on his face.
The commander-in-chief of the coalition army said casually, “That is indeed a very impressive future. After hearing your words, it appears to me that this is the only way to fight against the Imperium of True Human Beings, isn’t it?”
“Exactly!” Li Yao announced resolutely. “With my computational ability, this is the only approach that I can come up with to make all my compatriots survive. Therefore, no matter how difficult it is, and no matter how many obstacles there are, I will still walk down on the road without turning back. If I run into pebbles, I will kick them away. If I run into giant rocks, I will smash them into pieces!”
Jin Tuyi smiled. “Young man, I appreciate your sincerity and your genuine belief, and the ‘beautiful future’ that you just described has slightly aroused my interest, too. But there is just one little problem. Do you think that the ‘aggressive nation’ that I introduced just now is the Blood Demon Sector?”
Li Yao was dazed. “What do you mean?”
“All the data I provided just now, and the insane, feverish nation I depicted, is not the Blood Demon Sector but the Star Glory Federation, your motherland.”
Chapter 988: The Federation in the Enemy’s Eyes
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
“The Star Glory Federation is an abnormal country born in war. It has been surrounded by enemies since it was established. For five hundred years, wars have always been the main theme of the country. An enormous interest group that counts on wars has been created, too!
“To this day, hunting demon beasts and demons is still the pillar of industry. Of the top five hundred sects of the federation, 281 provide military services such as hunting demon beasts or resisting the demons as their main business. Such businesses almost cover one fifth of the total job market of the federation.
“Of ‘Cultivators’, the ruling class of the federation, almost one third are combat-type Cultivators. Even the non-combat-type Cultivators are often involved in jobs that are related to war, too.
“For example, the producers of military magical equipment enjoy a higher social position than those who produce civil magical equipment. A culture-type Cultivator tends to create the artworks depicting wars, too. Sometimes, they even join the army and boost the morale with battle hymns, which makes them warriors in a different sense.
“If you don’t understand what an ‘interest group’ is, just think about yourself, Vulture Li Yao.
“Ten years ago, after you killed dozens of nobles of the Blood Demon Sector on Boneyard, I paid special attention to your profile. Just now, I brought out all your files and read them again. It caught my attention that one of your identities was ‘disabled veteran’.
“Since you are a disabled veteran, you must know how many benefits a veteran enjoys in the Star Glory Federation.
“Free usage of public facilities and transportation, tax reduction when operating a company or a sect, a high amount of disability allowance and retirement allowance every month… In the federation, every veteran is an invisible magnate!
“You are very proud of such an identity, aren’t you?
“However, I would very much like to know, when you are enjoying all the benefits that seem justified to you, have you ever considered a little question?
“Money does not fall from the sky. The Star Glory Federation has been at war for five hundred years. How many martyrs and disabled veterans have been produced during the period? Where does the money that paid for your benefits come from?
“The martyrs are easy to handle. Their compensation is only one-time. But as the technology advances, the studies of spiritual energy and biochemistry are both witnessing a high-speed development, and it is becoming more and more difficult for the wounded to die. Even if they die, there is a certain likelihood that they will be turned into spectral Cultivators, who enjoy the same rights as living people do!
“The only result is that the disabled veterans and the retired soldiers of the Star Glory Federation grow larger and larger, and there is simply no way to cut them off. You have formed an enormous interest group.
“How can the position of soldiers be improved? Wars. Only wars! In peacetime, the soldiers in service are nothing better than a pile of garbage, not to mention the veterans!
“Do you see it now? Don’t presume that only demons crave wars. Veterans such as you also yearn, and need, wars. Without wars, you are just a heap of cr*p!
“This is just a tiny interest group within the federation.
“There are also the Cultivation sects whose main businesses are to slay demon beasts and to resist the intrusion of demons, the combat-type Cultivators who know nothing except for fighting, and the leaders who have dedicated all the resources of their sects into ‘war bonds’ and ‘victory funds’. Do you really that they want the war to come to an abrupt end immediately?
“Let me put it more frankly. If total peace is indeed reached, where do you want so many combat-type Cultivators to go? Playing magic in a circus?
“Vulture Li Yao, you are perhaps the biggest miracle of the Star Glory Federation over the past five hundred years since it was born. You’ve advanced to such an unbelievable level after only ten years. That is also the only reason I’m willing to waste so much of my time talking to you.
“However, whatever level you are at, you are still too young.
“You have no idea about true strength. You don’t know the first thing about how the world operates!”
“Your Star Glory Federation has always been an out-and-out war machine since it was established five hundred years. It can only function normally with a great number of war benefits as the lubricant!
“Five hundred years ago, you destroyed the Far East Demon Kingdom and looted tremendous war benefits, which led to a hundred years of brief prosperity.
“Three hundred years ago, when the war benefits ran out, you aimed at the ‘Alliance of Demons of the Grand Desolate Plateau’ again. After seven expeditions, you finally conquered the Grand Desolate Plateau!
“With the war benefits after you conquered the Grand Desolate Plateau, the federation developed at a high speed for another hundred years.
“By that point, the entire Heaven’s Origin Sector was already your territory. There were no more demon kingdoms and demon cities that you could exploit more war benefits. But the interest groups that had expanded to the maximum during the hundreds of years of wars were not likely to just collapse by themselves.
“Therefore, you cast your eyes to the Blood Demon Sector, preparing to use the internal organs of the Blood Demon Sector to lubricate the gears and tracks of the war machine.”
Li Yao was so angry that he was actually laughing. “Senior Jin, I did not expect that you would call white black like this! Even if the Star Glory Federation is truly a war machine, that is because of the threat of demons, isn’t it? Are the Far East Demon Kingdom and the Alliance of Demons of the Grand Desolate Plateau any more merciful than the Star Glory Federation? Before we destroyed them, had there been one second passing by without them thinking of completely destroying us?
“During the past hundred years, haven’t the beast tides of the Blood Demon Sector always invaded the Heaven’s Origin Sector first? You are allowed to attack, but we are forbidden from counterattacking. Is that what you meant?”
“I don’t want to discuss who’s right and who’s wrong,” Jin Tuyi said causally. “I only want to talk about facts with a special Cultivator like you. Which one between the Far East Demon Kingdom and the Star Glory Federation was the intruder and which was the defender years ago is a moot question right now.
“The fact is, no matter how innocent the Star Glory Federation was in the beginning, it has been nurtured by the blood and corpses of the two wars that both lasted a hundred years!
“It is true that the Blood Demon Sector launched countless trial attacks over the past decades, even including the large-scale attacks such as the ‘Battle of Dawn’. If you label us as invaders, I will admit it, too.
“But do you know when the Star Glory Federation issued the first ‘war bond’ targeting the Blood Demon Sector?
“Let me tell you. It was a hundred and forty-two years ago!
“Why? The reason was simple!
“A hundred and seventy years ago, the Blood Demon Sector finished the war against the ‘Alliance of Demons of the Grand Desolate Plateau’ and finally conquered the entire Grand Desolate Plateau.
“The protracted war drained the resources of the federation and put the government’s finances on the brink of collapse.
“Development on the rough, unpopulated Grand Desolate Plateau required a huge amount of investment, but the federal government could not offer a penny!
“In order to raise money, the federal government had to issue a new construction bond, hoping to trade the monopolization of the resources on the Grand Desolate Plateau for the support of the major sects.
“But none of the sects were willing to buy it.
“Why? Because the entire Heaven’s Origin Sector had already been conquered! In the foreseeable future, peace and development would be the mainstream of the Heaven’s Origin Sector, and the social position of the federal army and the combat-type Cultivators in the major sects would certainly plummet.
“That was definitely unacceptable for the interest groups who were parasites of wars.
“Therefore, they coerced the federal government into issuing a new war bond while the federal government was seriously lacking funds.
“Right. It is not very accurate to say that they ‘coerced’ the government. In fact, in the Star Glory Federation, which had just secured a glorious victory and conquered the Grand Desolate Plateau, the combat-type Cultivators and the federal army were enjoying greater prestige even. They were worshipped by all the enthusiastic citizens. They had control of the parliament. They were the federal government!
“In the end, the federal government issued a new bundle bond that was a combination of a development bond targeting the Grand Desolate Plateau and a war bond targeting the Blood Demon Sector. According to their fancy description, in order to defend the Grand Desolate Plateau, they had to launch an attack against the Blood Demon Sector, the nest of all demons, before they were attacked!
“All the Cultivators and sects who purchased the bond would be granted mother lodes, lands and… slaves after the Blood Demon Sector was conquered!
“Maybe at the beginning, it was just an expedient that the military and the Cultivators utilized to stabilize their position. They might not have been really interested in attacking the Blood Demon Sector.
“But once the war bond was issued, the sleeping ferocious beast was awakened, and they could not control public opinion anymore.
“The Cultivators and sects who bought the bonds became the most frantic supporters of the war. It must be noted that many of them were the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators who boasted tremendous influence, if not control, over parliament!
“Therefore, the first war bonds were issued for the development of the Grand Desolate Plateau. But in order to redeem the war bond, the Blood Demon Sector had to be conquered.
“In order to conquer the Blood Demon Sector, more money had to be raised, more resources had to be summoned, and an army of an even larger scale had to be maintained, all of which demanded a second, a third, a fourth bond…”
Jin Tuyi’s lips cured into a vague smile, but there seemed to be sorrow in his deep eyes. “At that time, the Star Glory Federation knew nothing about the Blood Demon Sector. You compared us to the ‘Far East Demon Kingdom’ and the ‘Alliance of Demons of Grand Desolate Plateau’. You thought that the Blood Demon Sector was an upgraded version of the Grand Desolate Plateau at best. You believed that we would be conquered in no time.
“Your madness did not pause until you learned the capability of the Blood Demon Sector and realized what a formidable opponent you were faced with.
“But it was too late.
“The hiatus of the invasion plan against the Blood Demon Sector led to the greatest economic crisis of the Star Glory Federation a hundred and seven years ago. Fifty-five sects collapsed, and two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators even killed themselves.
“I believe that you must’ve read about the economic crisis, which was later known as ‘Black September’, in your textbooks, but you might not be able to know the truth of the economic crisis from the textbook.”
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