Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1142
The body that had been cut in half flew to two sides because of the magnetic force, revealing five Immortal Cultivators behind him who were pouring the fiercest firepower upon the Rabid Dog. But the Rabid Dog did not dodge at all and simply jumped on them in creepy laughter.
"For a hundred years, even the wretched heavens have failed to kill me. Do you think a few scumbags such as yourselves are capable of that?"
However, tough monsters in the peak of the Core Formation Stage, such as the Rabid Dog, were only few in the Heaven's Origin Fleet after all. Compared to the relatively juvenile Exos of the federation, soldiers of the Black Wind Fleet, who had received the harshest training since childhood and considered fighting the greatest pleasure, apparently had a better performance.
Not far away from the Rabid Dog, the squads of the Exos from the Imperium in groups of four gradually secured their advantage. One space shuttle of the federation after another was consumed by fire, and more and more Exos from the federation were blown apart.
Further behind, an overwhelming fireball finally expanded deep inside the Heaven's Origin Fleet. The most violent storm of spiritual energy rushed out of the fireball, like a fire fiend that had just enjoyed the blood sacrifice of a thousand lives, waving its ugly tentacles crazily. The starships around were all affected, and the battle formation was more or less in disorder. It was the first starship to be completely destroyed in the space battle, but it was certainly, absolutely, definitely not going to be the last!
…
Seventy light seconds away from the battlefield, the Big Bai Fleet was marching forward fast in a cone-shaped battle formation.
On the bridge of Infinite Fire, the picture where the Heaven's Origin Fleet was struggling under the crush of the Black Wind Fleet was displayed on the ball-shaped light beam through the reconnaissance crystal cameras that were released earlier.
It was like a glamorous and yet cruel firework performance with the lives of a million people as the fuel.
Bai Xingjian was sitting on the commander's chair like a statue forged out of cold steel. The vibe of a casual, lighthearted playboy around him was entirely gone, replaced by excitement, expectation, and voracity.
"Despite the fire support of the Wall of Heaven's Origin, the Heaven's Origin Fleet can't persist for long." Xiao Lishui, his Chief of Staff, frowned next to him and said, "It is a local garrison after all. Compared to a Deep Sky Fleet such as the Black Wind Fleet, it is mediocre in terms of armor, firepower, speed, average quality of the Exos, and all other aspects.
"If we don't reinforce them in time, they will be completely crushed in three hours."
Right then, the signal officer received an order from the Defense Counsel of the Federal. Xiao Lishui was slightly dazed at the order first. Then, he was overjoyed.
"According to the order from the Defense Counsel, we are asked to arrive at the 25.44.45 space area immediately to defend the No. 2 and the No. 3 space gates and wait for the arrival of the Burning Prairie Fleet. The first wave of attack from the Burning Prairie Fleet will complete the jump in two hours!
"If—if—if so, the situation will be entirely reversed!
"But how is it possible? The Burning Prairie Fleet can't finish the preparations so fast, unless—"
Xiao Lishui's eyes were glittering, and every wrinkle on his face was jumping up.
As an experienced general, he soon noticed the anomaly.
The Black Wind Fleet had launched an unexpected assault at the central space zones of the federation because they wanted to take advantage of the Burning Prairie Fleet not being in the Heaven's Origin Sector. As long as they destroyed the defense system and controlled all the space gates before the Burning Prairie Fleet arrived, they would completely occupy the Heaven's Origin Sector.
By then, even if the Burning Prairie Fleet were to jump over in different waves, they would simply be asking to be killed.
However, right now, the Black Wind Fleet had only teleported part of the vanguard, which was mired in a fierce battle with the Heaven's Origin Fleet. It was like a sting in their throat.
If the Burning Prairie Fleet arrived in time before they completely settled the Heaven's Origin Fleet, the situation would be completely reversed. It would change from the Black Wind Fleet's assault to the federation's annihilation.
But how was that possible?
The large-scale space jump of a main-force fleet was as difficult as the march of an army of a million soldiers. It would often take weeks of gathering, preparing, organizing, and surveying!
Only several hours had passed since the ripples when the Black Wind Fleet ripped space apart appeared on the surveillance light beam of the federation. The Burning Prairie Fleet, which was dozens of lightyears away, was perhaps carrying missions, performing regular maintenance in the mother port, or scattered in the vast sea of stars. How could it be gathered so easily and prepared for a jump?
Unless—
Unless the Burning Prairie Fleet had secretly been preparing for the jump since a long time ago. They had known that the Black Wind Fleet would come!
It was not an unexpected assault but a trap carefully devised by the federation to annihilate the Black Wind Fleet once and for all!
"That must be the case!" Xiao Lishui thought that he realized what was going on. "This—this is all part of the plan! Understood. Accelerate to the No. 2 and the No. 3 space gates!"
"Wait."
The order, however, made the mysterious fire in Bai Xingjian's eyes even more intense. Gazing at the colorful battlefield on the light beam for a long time, he said, one word after another, "Target, the 25.56.24 space area. Change into the triangle battle formation. Move at one percent of the speed of light. Try to sneak behind the Black Wind Fleet."
"What?" Xiao Lishui was stunned. Looking at the battlefield again, he said, "The order is clear that we should defend the other space gates. You are not going to defy the highest military order right now, are you? The Heaven's Origin Fleet is hopeless now. Even if we join the battlefield, nothing can be helped. We may be crushed by the Black Wind Fleet, too. The only method of victory is to wait for the Burning Prairie Fleet to arrive and then attack the enemy together!"
"Carry out my order," Bai Xingjian said slowly but firmly. Then he added, "Forget the Burning Prairie Fleet. They will not show up. At least, not now.
"On the other hand…
"Enter the radio silence state and block all messages from the outside world, including those from the Defense Counsel of the Federation. Starting from this moment, I want no signal from the outside world to leak into my fleet."
Before the Chief of Staff came back to himself, he had already jumped off the commander's chair. With ravenousness beaming out of his face, he patted Xiao Lishui's shoulder and said, "From now on, we are on our own. Get behind the Black Wind Fleet first and find a chance to give them a shot!"
"Old Bai, what exactly…" Xiao Lishui felt that he was onto something. "What exactly do you know?"
"That old fart was not lying to me after all…" Looking at the dense light spots and the interconnected flames of spiritual energy on the light beam, Bai Xingjian put on a mysterious expression. He did not answer his Chief of Staff's question. Pondering for a moment, he grinned. "But why do I feel that I've still been tricked by him? I shouldn't have made a deal with the old fart. I'm certainly going to lose every penny in my pocket!"
Chapter 1768: An Accidental Journey in Paradise |
When Li Yao woke up, he heard the rushing sound of a waterfall from outside the wooden window. The damp air was mixed with the sweet scent of the mountain and the river. He struggled to open his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a dark beam as well as dried fish, pickled meat, and oiled pig skin hanging on it.
He moved his body softly. The bamboo bed below was creaking, implying that it had been used for many years and was on the brink of collapse.
A pair of grass shoes were placed on the ground. They were both tight and soft and were extremely comfortable to wear, like he was on a grassland barefooted. His very toe was bouncing in joy.
On his body, there was a rough, gray jacket that seemed to have been soaked and dyed by grass juice before it was dried in sunlight. The clothes were filled with the scent of sunlight and plants.
Li Yao warmed up his swollen body and observed his hands and limbs carefully. At first glance, there were no issues. However, dozens of new scars that had recently incrusted were added to his body. Those scars were so vividly made that he could even sense the flesh being pulled by the skin, like some ants were crawling inside his body.
But his Cosmos Rings were gone.
The Cosmos Rings that stored all his crystal suits, magical equipment, crystal bombs, and the Colossus were gone. Below the rough clothes, he was entirely naked, not carrying anything with him.
Li Yao did not panic. He sat cross-legged on the bamboo bed and thought for a while. Then, he loosened his belt and looked at his groin.
As he expected, it was not his genitals. Professor Mo Xuan was certainly capable of constructing a vivid virtual world by devoting the computational ability of the 'Gai'-level super crystal processor as well as himself. He could even perfectly copy the data of Li Yao's face, hands, and body posture that he secretly captured in the real world.
However, there was no way that he could spy on what Li Yao's genitals looked like. So, he could only use a standard template.
But for a man, even a blind one, could he not know what his penis looked like?
This was a virtual world, which seemed to be vivid and life-like, but because of the fatal loopholes, it was not worth mentioning at all if it was seen through.
Li Yao played with it for a while, and it was immediately congested with blood and expanded. The feeling of tightening little by little was very real, but it was nonetheless slightly different from his past experience. Any man who had been through puberty would be able to instantly tell the difference.
This is false. My body is still in District 01 of Hundred Flowers City under the thorough protection of my Colossus. There's no way that Professor Mo Xuan can invade the Colossus for the time being. Therefore, he found a way to launch mental attacks and dragged my soul into his Spiriters' Realm.
Although he was lost in the Spiriters' Realm, he was not panicking. Mental attacks were always double-edged swords. During the collision of souls, it was very possible for the enemy to be injured by their own attack in their carelessness.
Wanted to trap him in the Spiriters' Realm? It all depended on if Professor Mo Xuan had such powerful computational ability, mental power, and soul power!
Li Yao fastened his belt and jumped off the bamboo bed. Then, he observed the tiny wood cabin with great interest.
The wood house was decorated in a very shabby way. Other than a bamboo bed, the only furniture was a twisted desk.
A cloak was hanging on the wall that was smeared with yellow mud. Besides the wooden box in the corner of the room that was washed dustless, there were no other objects.
Although the room was simple, it was quite pleasant nonetheless. Li Yao looked out the window, noticing that the hut seemed to have been built close to a waterfall. He could vaguely see the cliff that was filled with vines as well as water that was splashing out of the waterfall.
A lizard craned its neck from the window and looked at Li Yao. Then, it quickly retreated and vanished into the vines.
Merry songs were coming from somewhere far away through the door. Taking a deep breath, Li Yao opened the door abruptly, only to see a mountain village that looked like an unworldly paradise.
The village was located inside an enormous basin, surrounded by cliffs that rose high into the clouds. Above the cliffs, there seemed to be dense primitive forests. Even the sky was covered by thin mist. The clouds were so low that one seemed able to touch them as long as one reached for them. They added to the mysterious and delightful aura of the village.
The hut that he was in had been constructed at the highest place in the mountain village. To his left was a waterfall that looked like clouds, which smashed into a clear, transparent pool on the ground zigzagging through the village as a river. Dozens of waterwheels had been established on the two sides of the river. The diligent, lighthearted farmers were singing songs while stepping on the waterwheels to deliver the sweet water from the river to the farmland. There was no telling what season the virtual world was in, but the rice ears were so full that they were about to explode. The fragrance of the rice flowers filled the air, as intoxicating as the most delicious wine in the world.
Men were working around the waterwheels, and women were working in the land. The toddlers who had only just learned to walk were half walking and half crawling, playing with the gurgling hens at the rice drying field at the edge of the village. There also seemed to be a small school at the end of the village, from which the sound of book-reading was spreading out. The clouds were too thick for anyone to see through what was behind them. The roads on the mountains were as twisted as the zigzagging river in the village.
Although he knew that everything was false, Li Yao could not help but feel that his virtual heartbeat had slowed down.
This virtual world was more delicate and captivating than the public Spiriters' Realm in the base of the Tinder Plan. It seemed that this was Professor Mo Xuan's real capability to construct virtual worlds!
"Ah, you are awake!"
Li Yao turned around, only to discover a girl around fifteen years old who was looking at him full of delight with a basin of fragrant roasted escargots in her hands.
The girl was dressed like a common village woman, too. She was wearing rough clothes and a pair of high-heeled clogs. There was not the slightest make up in her fair face. The vigor of youth and the innocent expression on her face were enough to resolve all the wariness and hostility. She put the roasted escargots on a desk below the roof that was right against the waterfall. Then, she blew at her fingers quickly because the tray was too hot. While rubbing her ears, she said with a smile, "Don't be hasty. The dinner will begin as soon as grandpa is back. It's been raining for quite a few days. Today, the sun is finally out. Grandpa said that we would have dinner outside, and we don't need to be cramped in the room anymore."
Li Yao stared at her for a long time. Although he was eighty percent sure that she was a… Deviant Spirit, he could not tell the difference between her and a real person at all. He simply frowned and said, "I…"
"You don't remember anything now?" The girl blinked her big eyes and pointed at the top of the cliff. "You fell down from right there, with dozens of bleeding wounds all over your body. It was terrible. My grandpa saved you. I thought that you would be dead for sure at that time!
"It was half a month ago. You have been running a fever and speaking nonsense during the half month, talking about wars, fighting, and killing all the time. Are you a soldier? I'm told that wars happen in the world outside every day. Is that true?"
The girl was apparently a passionate chatterbox. Instead of waiting for Li Yao to answer, she simply waved her hands and went on. "This place is Peach Blossom Village. It may look unappealing right now, but when the peach blossoms are all out in February and March, the scenery here is really beautiful!
"The seniors in the village told me that our ancestors lived in the outside world before, but it was too chaotic and dreadful, and everybody was killing each other.
"Later, our ancestors found this place, and a lot of people have moved here since. Let me think about it. It's almost a thousand years now. In the past hundreds of years, a lot of soldiers have fallen off the cliffs when they were hunting other people or when they were hunted, just like you. Then, none of them were willing to leave after they came here!
"Zhao Laosi's family on the east side of the village and Lady Lin's family on the west side both had great, great grandfathers who fell off from the cliffs ages ago.
"Judging from the wounds all over your body, you must have fought a lot of wars and killed a lot of people outside. That's too bad. Why don't you stay here and live with us, too? The days here are peaceful and wonderful!
"What's your name, or have you forgotten it? It doesn't matter if you have. My name is Ah Luo, not the 'Luo' in tianluo (escargots), but the Luo in tengluo (vine) and luobo (carrot)! But I make the best roasted escargots in the world. Grandpa is not back yet. You can take a couple of them first and just throw the shells into the pool. Hehe!
"There's another dish. I'm going to bring it here now. Sit here and wait for me!"
The girl ran to the kitchen with a smile, her clogs leaving clicking sounds on the stone road.
Li Yao walked close and looked at the desk. Four dishes were already placed on it. Other than the roasted escargots, there was a bowl of tofu stew, a tray of fried fish with pepper, and a tray of fried cabbage with oiled pig skin. The dishes looked rather simple and shabby, but they were indeed fragrant and enticing. Li Yao could not help but feel that he was drooling.
The clinking sounds of clogs echoed again. Ah Luo fetched a very deep fictile tank carefully. The intense fragrance of chicken soup was coming from inside.
Li Yao had never seen such fine chicken soup in the real world.
Ah Luo was apparently very proud of her skills. She smiled innocently and looked at the foot of the mountain. Then, she shouted delightedly, "Ah, grandpa is back."
An old farmer with a hood walked slowly to the middle of the mountain, barefooted and in rough clothes, with two bundles of firewood on his back. The clothes were tied with simple grass rope, and he carried an enormous wine calabash in his hands.
The mist grew thicker and thicker, and his hood was flickering in and out of view. But the energetic eyes below the hood that were as innocent and passionate as those of a young man were not concealed at all.
It was exactly Professor Mo Xuan.
