Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1066
"It also includes how the great country declined from its peak to weakness, and from weakness to degeneration, step by step, and how a monster like 'Blackstar the Great' Wuying Qi and the abnormal beast, the Imperium of True Human Beings, were bred in its very body.
"There are also the tough choices on Firefly during the lone voyage between 'Cultivators' and 'Immortal Cultivators'.
"I hope that you can take the tinder to the federation and show the glory, mistakes, and viruses that the Cultivators of the past once made to the Cultivators of the new generation so that we can create a more magnificent and brilliant civilization of Cultivators that will defend all mankind. A real civilization!"
Holding the heavy jade chip, Li Yao felt as if it had turned into a burning silver stream and leaked into his blood and internal organs mixed with the thousands of years of the history of the Star Ocean Republic. He was at a loss for words when he looked at Cui Lingfeng's weary face that was full of expectation. "I…"
"Go now. Use this time to take a look at the past of the Star Ocean Republic." Cui Lingfeng smiled, as if a great burden on him had been relieved. "You are now the Senior Representative and Special Councilor of the Speaker's Office of the Star Ocean Republic, and you are going to visit the Star Glory Federation fully on my behalf. Although you are just a common member of the delegation in name, everybody, even including the natives of the federation, knows that you are the key. It won't do if you don't know the first thing about the past of the Star Ocean Republic!"
He walked toward the depths of the Meditation Platform unhurriedly, as if he were embracing the arrows of light that the stars in the universe shot at him. "The Star Ocean Republic and I are old. You and the Star Glory Federation are the future. Remember your own words just now, and try to make the future… a better one!"
Li Yao's heart almost skipped a beat. He was not certain if the old Speaker was implying that he was from the Star Glory Federation. He opened his mouth but then closed it, wondering if he should ask at all.
Cui Lingfeng suddenly came to a stop, as if he had an invisible eye on the back of his head that saw through the concerns in Li Yao's heart. "Whether you are from the Red Lotus Sector or somewhere else, you are a Cultivator, aren't you?"
"Of course!" Li Yao replied.
"That's good." Cui Lingfeng's voice grew lighter and lighter. "That is enough. The Star Ocean Republic is a country that has taken the entire universe and all the Cultivators and all the human beings in the three thousand Sectors as compatriots since the beginning!"
…
Ten days later, in the Uranian Ring Sector, when the carrier from the rightful government of the Star Ocean Republic appeared in the ripples of the void and jumped out of the swirl like a dolphin, the first thing that was reflected on the mirror-like shell of the carrier was the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars flag, the national flag of the federation that was more than a hundred kilometers both in length and width!
Sitting in a corner of the bridge by himself, Li Yao gazed at the raging dragon that was soaring into the sky on the red flag through the light beam all by himself. He could hardly hold back the urge to cry out loud.
A hundred years. After a hundred years, he had finally stepped into the territory of the federation again and seen the flag that had protected him countless times and had been protected by him countless times!
Thankfully, the experts of the Ancient Sages Sector were not currently around him. They were still studying the files that were as boundless as the ocean in their respective cabins. Under Cui Lingfeng's arrangement, they had all been assigned to specific tasks in the delegation, and they were about to inspect every detail in the federation in terms of politics, economy, military, and all the other fields. Naturally, they had a lot of preparation work to do and were not half as relaxed as Li Yao.
To turn the experts of ancient times into modern specialists in a certain field quickly, even the computational ability of the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage was not enough. Therefore, they had spent the last ten days coping with all kinds of textbooks, files, and data without having any time to bother about other things. It was for this reason that they did not notice Li Yao's subtle emotional changes.
In any case, I'm finally back now. I'm going to be reunited with my wife and everybody very soon!
Hehe. I didn't expect that I would be appointed as a special representative for the Speaker of the Star Ocean Republic by chance. In the Ancient Sages Sector, it would be equal to the royal envoy, right?
The situation in the federation is rather complicated. The CFIA and Jin Xinyue are in an ambiguous relationship. The CFIA seems like bait that Jin Xinyue intentionally threw out to attract the Immortal Cultivators. But Lu Qingchen's theory does not appear to be something a counterfeit Immortal Cultivator could come up with. There's also Bai Xingjian whose acting skills even fooled me. What is his role in this whole scheme? Hehe. However modestly I put it, I am the dominator of the three Sectors after all. Are you bold enough to deceive my disciple?
Also, is the Black Wind Fleet already here and capable of jumping to the most vulnerable place of the federation at any minute? Are there really Immortal Cultivators lurking in the leadership of the federation, or is it an exaggeration and a smoke grenade that somebody tossed out on purpose?
If my identity as Vulture Li Yao is truly exposed, I'm afraid that it will raise unnecessary alarms and make the surreptitious scoundrels in darkness better prepared!
So, on second thought, I might as well make best use of my identity as 'Special Representative for the Speaker'. I should try to be more surreptitious than the surreptitious bad guys. In the end, I might be able to catch them unprepared and resolve the problem!
Li Yao grinned and made the decision.
He might as well take things as they came. He would work as a dutiful 'Special Representative for the Speaker' and take a good look at the appearance of the New Federation that had developed quickly for a hundred years!
From the perspective of the grand universe and observed with the naked eye, even the periphery of the Uranian Ring Sector that had been highly developed was still nothing more than a cold, vacant wasteland.
However, on the mainframe crystal processor of the carrier, the radiation, mystic rays, and signals displayed on the light beam outlined the busiest, most prosperous, and noisiest scene.
Golden, shining sailing routes, like golden bridges, established a complicated, pervasive transportation network between the mother planet, important resource planets, space docks, and star fortresses. All kinds of starships in bizarre forms marked their coordinates and speed as little shining spots on the light beam, shipping the labor and resources that the world needed for its continuous development.
Two starships slid along the sailing routes near the carrier, escorting the guests from Firefly.
The shells of the starships were in the apparent style of pragmatism of the federation that appeared to be slightly clumsy, but the barrels and the plate armor in certain parts kept the agility and elegance that were unique to the Uranian Ring Sector. Together, they brought a sense of liveliness despite the minor incoordination.
Their size was already greater than Burning Prairie, the strongest warship that Li Yao had seen a hundred years ago, known as the 'dream warship of three Sectors'. However, the exhaust flames spurting out of the power rune arrays in the rear were feebler and more lackluster, suggesting that they might not be the main power source but merely served to slightly alter the direction. Li Yao could not help but feel fascinated when he wondered what their main power sources were.
The starships that were more technologically sophisticated than Burning Prairie were not even members of the Burning Prairie Fleet, the ace troop of the federation, but only two main-force warships that belonged to the local fleet of the Uranian Ring Sector. Li Yao was greatly amazed by the magnificent military power of the New Federation and had never been more confident about the war to come.
Guided by the two escorting starships, the carrier quickly sailed toward the Uranian Ring Planet, which was the center of the Uranian Ring Sector and the largest starship production base in the New Federation.
It was not until the super-enormous orbit dock around the Uranian Ring Planet was gradually unfolded in front of Li Yao's eyes that Li Yao finally understood why the Uranian Ring Sector had been named after such a wonder of visual impact. The orbit dock was not a narrow, thin metal thread that he had imagined but extremely thick even in contrast to the planet nearby. It was glowing brilliantly like the 'rings' around many planets that were made of meteoroids and broken pieces.
Chapter 1647: Start from the Uranian Ring Sector |
The closer one got to the orbit docks, the more they would sense the ambitions of human beings to change the world and conquer the universe. Two orbit docks that fully surrounded the planet had been built, and the third 'Uranian Ring' was under construction. The super dock and space metropolis that looked like a long bow had only just started being built, but it left the deepest impression on Li Yao because only when he saw the starships and workers who were busy working around the new orbit dock was he finally convinced that the two splendid celestial bodies that he had previously seen, which were emitting their brilliance even in the scale of the grand universe, had in fact been made by the human beings who appeared to be ants if not dust!
As the carrier approached the First Uranian Ring, they turned off their own power and allowed the rune arrays of the First Uranian Ring to lock onto and capture the vehicle, drifting toward the port.
More and more starships appeared nearby until it was even possible to see the emblems and pennants that were painted on each of the starships. Compared to the super-enormous carriers, engineering starships, and main-force warships of the federal fleets, their own carrier was rather slender. Often, when several gigantic starships leaned toward them like mountains, they could not help feeling that they would be crushed. But with the guidance and navigation of the spiritual and magnetic field, the other starships simply flew past them unhurriedly, like a bunch of lazy whales.
"Wow!"
Many people who had spent their entire lives on Firefly, born, raised, and aged in the sea of stars alone, were deeply awed by the glamorous exhaust flames when at least a thousand starships crowded together. They were exclaiming at the splendid view.
During the incessant gasps and exclamations, they passed the Second Mother Port of the Burning Prairie Fleet, which was also the biggest starship production base in the 'four new worlds'.
The solemn and inviolable starships had entirely renewed plate armor, which was polished to be even smoother than a mirror. There was no sign that they had ever been scratched by the cosmic dust at all.
Illuminated by the sun and the exhaust flames of the thousand starships nearby, they were reflecting deep, dark golden colors, like the ridge of a continuous mountain that boasted infinite strength.
On the orbit dock behind them, countless iron tentacles extended all the way down into the atmosphere of the Uranian Ring Planet until they stabbed deeply into the mother lodes below the surface of the planet, transporting the metal and crystal resources from there directly into the docks.
In space, a lot of starry brilliance was flying toward the Uranian Rings, too, as if they were shooting stars that had been conquered, manipulated, and made use of by human beings. They were all man-made asteroids that used to be part of the resource planets. Before, the collection and purification work used to be conducted on the resource planets. But later, a more convenient approach was invented, which was to blow up part of the resource planets, install engine units on them, and push them toward the Uranian Rings. The collection, purification, manufacture, and assembly procedures were concentrated in the same place, and the efficiency to produce starships was greatly improved.
If the probe distance of the crystal cameras were increased, they would be able to distinguish some details of the Uranian Rings on the fuzzy picture. At such a distance, the Uranian Rings' sense of smoothness, elegance, and unity would completely vanish. They were an iron forest from which countless branches were stretching out. Just like Firefly, which was under major maintenance, 'twigs' made of super alloys stood erect on the surface, and new twigs bifurcated at the end of the previous twigs. Growing just like that, the Uranian Rings occupied every tiny bit of space other than the sailing routes. At the end of every 'narrowest' twig was a starship that was being maintained or produced.
From that point of view, the 'twigs' were sort of like umbilical cords. The Uranian Rings, beasts of the planetary level, collected and absorbed metals, minerals, crystals, and everything from the Uranian Ring Planet and the hundreds of resource planets nearby without pause. They chewed and digested the resources and sent the nutrition into the starships incessantly through the 'umbilical cords', breeding the iron beasts one after another that were about to raise surging tides in the universe.
Such a picture was not 'natural' at all, but it was quite 'human'.
The carrier slowly connected to one of the 'twigs' extending out of the Uranian Rings. It was the first stop of the delegation, the Uranian Ring War Museum.
Wars were the most extreme outburst of potential of a civilization.
Through wars, it was possible to learn the true face of a civilization within the shortest amount of time.
Therefore, the representatives from the center of the cosmos had chosen this place for their first stop, where they were greeted by a Communication Committee made of people from the federal government, military, Cultivation sects, and academic fields.
Because of the subtle if not awkward relationship between the Star Ocean Republic and the Star Glory Federation, and since the federation was fully focused on the preparation for the war to come, both parties had agreed that they would discuss more about practical questions during the communication and negotiation and put aside controversial issues such as legitimacy and rightfulness.
Therefore, the delegation was not of a high level on the surface, and it was purely under the banner of Election Observation Delegation. Correspondingly, only a limited number of people from the government and the military were in the Communication Committee that the federation had sent out. At least, there were not many of them in the beginning.
Li Yao did not find any acquaintances in the Communication Committee, which spared him from the dilemma that he would have faced if an old friend had been there.
He observed the people of the new federation who were standing opposite him with great interest. He discovered that, probably because of the transition from a planetary civilization completely into a universal civilization, the federal citizens of the new generation were slimmer and taller, as if they could swim in the sea of stars to their heart's content after one jump.
Regardless of their sex and gender, they were equally energetic and in high spirits. The confidence in their demeanor was so obvious that it was almost sharp.
Judging from their clothing, other than the officers who were more difficult to tell because of their standard military uniform, the civil representatives were from various Sectors, including the Nether World Sector. Some of them also possessed some demon features, such as cute rabbit ears, green eyes resembling a cat, and so on. Other people did not seem to be affected at all, either.
It appeared that the New Federation had carried out the integration policy determinedly in the past hundred years.
With their guidance, Li Yao visited the Uranian Ring War Museum. Through the remnants from the war, the war logs of the soldiers, and even simulation games in the Grand Illusionary Land, he experienced the war of thirty years prior.
He had studied many details of the war in the Uranian Ring Sector carefully on Firefly. However, he was quite fond of the New Federation's narration of the war, which was calm, objective, and slightly conservative. There was not much description of the ugliness and evilness of the Heavenly Light. Everything was simply recorded dutifully like a sketch. In one of the procedures, quite a few solutions that could have completely avoided the war were even simulated in the Grand Illusionary Land.
Only the real victors could be so calm and conservative. It was even confident enough to reflect on the war.
After seeing all the scenes in the war museum, Li Yao was finally convinced that the federation had completely integrated and assimilated the Uranian Ring Sector. This world had become an indispensable part of the Star Glory Federation now.
Then, at the exit of the museum, he saw a statue.
The statue was not a depiction of the merry and lighthearted victors but a sad, lonely young woman who was holding the hands of a little girl in ragged, dirty clothes. The two of them were raising their heads and looking ahead in silence.
What they were looking at was an incessantly rolling list of names that recorded all the victims who had been killed in the Uranian Ring War.
In such a way, the woman and the girl in the statue seemed to be searching for the names of their family wholeheartedly. Their uneasy and complicated feelings could not have been more obvious.
The name list was divided into three columns in three different colors, which recorded all the members of the Heavenly Light, the Earthly Fiend, and the federation that had died in the war.
The detail made Li Yao stop in front of the statue and reflect for a long time.
The interpreter who was accompanying him, seeing that he was apparently interested in the statue, said, "The sorrowful woman in the statue is Ding Lingdang, who is regarded by the people of the Uranian Ring Sector as their 'liberator'."
"Ha?"
"Once the Uranian Ring War was over, the Earthly Fiend that were liberated wanted to build a tall and magnificent statue for Ding Lingdang, but she insisted against it and only agreed reluctantly after much persuasion, on the condition that the shape of the statue be decided by herself. In the end, she did not choose an awesome and dominant appearance but decided to build such a tiny, inconspicuous statue without highlighting herself. She even refused to carve her name on the statue. Although the statue has always been placed at the exit of the war museum, few people can recognize that it is the 'God of War' of the federation if they are not informed."
