Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1180
"If you intend to lunge at me, I suggest you think carefully." Li Yao opened his hands and said, "The two of us are on par with each other right now. There's no telling who will be the winner. But whoever fully gains control of the body, his soul will certainly have been heavily wounded and weakened. It won't be recovered any time soon.
"In the meantime, Long Yangjun and Yan Liren are still waiting and watching outside. You know very well how keen Long Yangjun's senses are when it comes to souls, and do I need to describe how fast Yan Liren's sword is? Even if you are lucky enough to suppress me and gain control over the body, should they notice any inconsistencies, do you think that they will give you a chance to explain yourself?
"The extraterrestrial devils are the masterminds of this war behind the curtain. They are ten times more dreadful than the Immortal Cultivators of the Imperium of True Human Beings. Do you think that they would care about the subtle difference between extraterrestrial devils and mental devils?"
The mental devil's face was gloomy, and it glared at Li Yao in fury.
Li Yao, on the other hand, confidently stared back at it with firm, clear eyes.
The mental devil hesitated for a long time. Finally, it took a long breath, and flowers seemed to be blossoming on its hideous face. In a voice that was greasily sweet, it declared, "Don't be a fool. We are good brothers living inside the same body and two sides of the same coin. How could I fight my own brother? It was just a joke!
"I only concealed part of my strength because I was preparing to ambush the enemy at the most crucial moment and give the enemy a fatal blow. As for why I didn't tell you beforehand, that's because… because if you want to deceive your enemy, you must first deceive yourself. You must've heard that before, right?"
Li Yao could not help but chuckle. He nodded and said, "I have."
"That's good. Everything is fine. The rain is over, and the sun is out. The trouble is no more!" The mental devil grinned. Looking at the ripples of tenebrum energy floating in the vacuum, it could not help but gulp. "Such intense negative emotions are practically the most delicious meal in the world. It is enough for years!"
"Negative emotions are all yours, but I'll have most of the pure energy after the negative emotions are removed." Li Yao's eyes were glittering, too, as he revealed his true nature as a training maniac. "Let's not rush into anything. It is indeed necessary to purge and digest the energy over several years to make sure that the evil energy entities do not cause any further trouble!"
The two of them rubbed their fists and flew toward where Lu Qingchen's head had dispersed.
"What… are you exactly?"
The last bit of tenebrum energy waves on Lu Qingchen had not entirely gone yet. He sighed gloomily like a haunting ghost.
"Hahaha. You didn't see this coming, did you? I am in fact the uniquely handsome, kind, and upright mental devil!" The mental devil made the most striking pose.
"No. I know what you are. You are just another extraterrestrial devil in a different form. I'm not interested in you at all. I'm asking about it."
Lu Qingchen did not bother with the mental devil at all but focused the last bit of the tenebrum energy into an unsubstantial hand and extended it toward Li Yao.
It was not an attack. He merely tried to touch Li Yao's soul. With a voice full of curiosity, he asked, "What are you exactly? Maybe next time…"
Before he finished his sentence, the dark hand and his gloomy sigh both vanished from this world.
Li Yao and the mental devil looked at each other in bewilderment and scratched their heads together.
"What's wrong with the guy?" the mental devil asked. "He completely ignored me!"
Li Yao frowned. "What a pretentious man. What did he mean by 'maybe next time'? Is he not dead yet?"
The mental devil shook its head hard. "Most of his tenebrum energy must've been focused in this Spiriters' Realm and has been annihilated by us, but it is not entirely impossible that he kept a tiny part of tenebrum energy somewhere else. For example, he might've created a fourth 'clone'. But there is no need to worry about it. The fourth 'clone' must be terribly weak. It is not going to jump out to cause trouble again without a long period of training.
"Speaking of which, he bragged about the 'soul virus' so eloquently as if it were a real thing, claiming that no soul of a human, be they an ordinary person or a Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivator, could escape from his 'infection'. Why were there no symptoms in you at all?"
"Indeed." Li Yao touched his body and said, "It didn't seem to work on me. I think that it is probably because I am in fact an earthling, and the souls of the earthlings are of a different fundamental architecture from the souls here."
The dark world was shaking more and more violently. Strong light shot in from the outside, making it barely possible for Li Yao and the mental devil to keep their eyes open. There even seemed to be voice in the strong light. Somebody was shouting, "Li Yao! Li Yao! Li Yao!"
Li Yao and the mental devil looked at each other and flew toward where the light was strongest together. When they were about to reach the gap leading to the real world, the two shadows gradually melded together.
…
"Hu…"
Li Yao took a deep breath and returned to reality. After passing the period where he felt that his brains were emptied, he found himself in the warm arms of Little Black under the thorough protection of the Tartarean Skeleton.
Outside of the Colossus, on the other hand, was a burning battlefield with shining pillars of light and rushing debris. They had broken away from Black Swirl.
The Tartarean Skeleton had been dragged out by Yin Yang and Big Sword, Long Yangjun and Yan Liren's Colossi.
Not far behind them, Black Swirl had the most violent and brilliant serial explosions so far and completely fell apart.
In a daze, Li Yao saw a crystal suit that looked like fire flying at him.
He realized who was calling him in the darkness. The voice calmed him down and made him put on the happiest smile. He opened his arms at the newcomer but fell asleep again, returning to a dream from a long, long time ago in a place far, far away.
Chapter 1829: Escape from Earth! |
When the blue planet as round as a dew—the third planet of a peaceful, quiet galaxy—gradually appeared in front of Li Yao in a haze again, he was no longer surprised and confused at all. Instead, he was full of relief and expectation after the long wait.
He felt that he was a wanderer that had roamed the sea of stars for thousands of years and that he was about to be embraced by the warm and familiar home again.
Earth, the mysterious homeland that haunted Li Yao's soul!
Did it really exist in a certain space zone in the middle of the three thousand Sectors or somewhere beyond? Was it a certain mysterious, indescribable being beyond the three-dimensional world? Was it nonexistent and just an illusion of Li Yao himself, a malicious joke that certain fiends hundreds of times stronger than the extraterrestrial devils played on him?
Are you really there, Earth?
What are the so-called 'earthlings' exactly?
Li Yao stood above Earth in the middle of the ocean of stars. The brightness from the billions of stars constituted his clear, glass-like body.
He opened his arms toward Earth. His thoughts turned into thousands of magnificent shooting stars that landed on every corner of Earth.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
Thousands of pictures on Earth were unfolded deep inside his soul like an infinite scroll.
The modern metropolises ablaze with lights, the skyscrapers that rose high into the sky, the lively streets that were packed with cars and pedestrians, the strong armies that had developed stubbornly even without the spiritual energy, and the healthy, smiling faces exactly the same like the people in the Star Glory Federation.
Earth. My Earth…
Li Yao could not hold back his desire to extend his hands through the atmosphere, the clouds, the overwhelming high-rises, and the crowds to touch the children on Earth who were playing in the parks carefreely.
Some of the children were playing on seesaws. Some climbed on the community body-building facilities designed for seniors. The scene activated something deep inside Li Yao's memories, making him realize that he seemed to have experienced similar days in the past.
However, before his telepathic thoughts reached the children on Earth, all the pictures were burnt and blackened. Ugly black spots appeared at the center first, before they were all on fire, as if they were colorful photos whose backs were set ablaze by lighters.
Li Yao widened his eyes and uttered soundless roars, trying to remind the innocent children that their world was being corrupted by fire.
But it was useless. His throat was empty, and his vocal cords became a black hole that swallowed all his anxiety, panic, and fury. He could only watch the children turning into skeletons, the carrousels and seesaws burning to ash, and the skyscrapers twisting and collapsing, and the glorious cities razed to the ground.
The furious flames seemed to be a monster with ten thousand tentacles that closely enveloped the entire Earth, draining the vigorous blue planet and reducing it to a dying land mixed with dark red and dim yellow. It was like the vitality of a succulent red apple was pumped out within a moment, and the fruit was forced to wither, constrict, and deteriorate!
The core of the rotten apple struggled and revolved slowly.
"Run, Li Yao. Run as fast as you can. The Vulture Plan has completely failed. You are the only one who can run away now. Run to the desolate lands at the edge of the cosmos!"
Li Yao heard the voice of an old man who shouted in utmost pain and frustration.
Then, he heard himself angrily roaring, "No, the Vulture Plan hasn't failed yet. There is still hope. We can't give up just like that!"
"It is doomed and hopeless now. We don't even stand one billionth of a chance!" the old man replied. "It is too strong and too dark. Nobody can destroy it. For thousands of years, nobody has ever escaped its dragnet! This time, we have sacrificed so many people and burnt all our strength to break a tiny gap, allowing us to launch the weakest soul out through the gap. This is already the best we can do!
"So, run now. Live carefreely and ordinarily in an unknown corner at the edge of the cosmos. Live a real life for all of us!"
"No. Let go of me. Let go of me now. I can't just run away!" Li Yao heard himself shrieking. "I swear that even if you launch me to the edge of the cosmos, to the desolate space that is not illuminated by any stars, I will come back one day and carry out the Vulture Plan to completely destroy it!"
"It's impossible!" the old man's voice replied with bitter laughter. "So many magnificent beings have failed. This has been a trap since the very beginning. It intentionally lured us to activate the Vulture Plan so that it could fish us up once and for all!
"Now, us defeated soldiers are about to be completely eradicated. You are the only one who is weak enough to pass through the holes in the impregnable web that it has established. The fire of your soul is so feeble that you are essentially just an ordinary person. Just give up your fantasies!
"Run now. Run away from its control. Forget everything about Earth and live a free life at the edge of the cosmos. This is your destiny and… our last hope!"
"No. No. Never!" Li Yao heard that he was almost crying. "I may be an ordinary person, but so what? I can train myself hard until I am stronger than any god or devil in the entire universe. Then, I will be back and complete the Vulture Plan to destroy it!"
"You can't train yourself!" The old man's voice suddenly became stern. "Didn't I tell you just now? Launching your soul to the edge of the cosmos is like darting a full balloon into the ocean. The seawater will naturally reject you and try to blow you back!
"Unless the 'balloon' is as tiny as a molecule or an atom, you will never have a slim chance of being embraced by the foreign universe!
"Remember my words, Li Yao. Conceal your radiance, abandon your pride, and forget all the impractical illusions. Just live a peaceful life. To some extent, we will have defeated it if you can do so."
"As long as I can still let out the tiniest bit of light, I will never volunteer to turn it off!" Li Yao heard himself shrieking in utmost resolution. "I get it now. If I remain the weakest and dimmest form and live under the identity of an 'ordinary person', it is possible that I will live in peace with the new world at the edge of the cosmos. But if I begin to 'expand' into a huge 'balloon', I will be rejected by the foreign universe and even be 'blown away', am I right?
"That's exactly what I want!
"I can train myself with the rejection of the foreign world. The more rejective it is and the more dangers and difficulties it throws my way, the more intense and the faster my training will be, and the more likely I will grow up like you—no, into something that is far beyond you and strong enough to destroy it!"
"It's impossible!" the old man's voice replied anxiously. "You will die. You will be obliterated when you emanate your first brilliance. You are… an ordinary person at most. No matter how you train yourself, it won't be enough for you to challenge it, much less destroy it!"
"How do you know that if I don't give it a shot?"
Li Yao sensed that his voice and his will were getting more and more resolute, condensing into something that was denser than a neutron star.
"If the strength of myself is far from enough, I will find comrades who share the same destiny at the edge of the cosmos, and I will establish an even greater force. One day, I will return to this place with the most magnificent army in the entire sea of stars!"
"No… Not good!" The old man's voice sounded as if somebody grabbed him by his neck. "It is here. It has begun to corrupt us. It has discovered the gap and is blocking it quickly! There is no time now. The gap is shrinking. Even the soul of an ordinary person cannot be launched in its entirety now. We can only… Launch! Launch! Launch now!"
Li Yao felt that Earth, which looked like a rotten apple core, moved away from him fast, or maybe it was him who had turned into waves more mysterious than light and escaped from Earth as quickly as possible.
When the apple core was completely consumed by the dark universe, and all the shining stars around were all gone, Li Yao heard the last sigh from the old man, as if he were saying, "Good luck… Vulture."
…
Li Yao woke up again, only to find himself soaked in the middle of certain warm, pure, blue liquids.
The memory fragments about Earth all cracked like the bubbles under the sunlight.
However, the rainbow contained inside turned into tiny ripples and was deeply etched into his soul.
Earth and the Star Glory Federation at the edge of the cosmos, the worlds that were completely different, were gradually overlapping and unifying. He was only one step away from the final truth.
Shaking his head, which was as heavy as a mountain, Li Yao realized that he was in the middle of an enormous bubble, covered in a thin layer of ivory film. The film was brimming with holes that allowed it to absorb energy from the high-energy drugs around and press the energy into his capillary vessels and limbs by negative pressure.
It had to be some sort of extremely advanced medical cabin. Judging from the size and the primeval runes carved on the wall of the cabin, it was likely not to have been designed for human beings. It was probably a super-large medical cabin excavated from Kunlun that had been specially prepared for the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan.
At this moment, there was only one person other than himself in such an enormous medical cabin.
Her hair as red as fire dispersed in the blue liquids but still emitted the brilliance of pride. Her charming face was a little bit tough, but it was mostly dissolved by the childlike expression while she was sleeping. Her perfect body was covered in the ivory film, which was as thin as the wing of a cicada, and her graceful body figure could not have been better highlighted. Curled up like a baby, she held her ankles and revolved slowly in the blue ocean.
Sensing Li Yao's eyes that were even more scorching than a solar storm, she put on a smile even though she was dreaming. Her eyelashes shivered, and she slightly opened her eyes, with a bit of expectation and unease in her eyes.
Deep inside the blue ocean, Li Yao and Ding Lingdang, the man and the woman who had not seen each other for a hundred years, looked at each other quietly.
Chapter 1830: Collapse of Black Wind |
Looking at his wife's glittering eyes where all the stars of the universe seemed to be shining, Li Yao had a bellyful of words that he wanted to tell her, which were almost running out like a flood.
He wanted to tell Ding Lingdang about the loneliness and the mixed feelings when he traveled deep inside the dark nebula by himself. He wanted to tell Ding Lingdang what it looked like when a star ten thousand times larger than the sun unleashed a storm. He wanted to tell her about the glamorous nebulas, the enticing Ancient Sages Sector, and all his discoveries in the Nuwa warship. He wanted to show her the Colossi that he had repaired like a child showing off his toy and invite his wife to choose the biggest and best one for herself.
In the meantime, there were a lot of things that he wanted to find out, too. He almost couldn't wait to hear about Ding Lingdang's experience in the past hundred years. He wanted to know how she had convinced the spectral Cultivators in the Nether World Sector with her fists in the devastated wasteland and what kind of soul-stirring, unbelievable stories she had from the dark mining holes of the Uranian Ring Sector.
Did she go through life-blighting dangers and crises? Did she suffer damage that she would rather not recall? How did she manage while he was not around?
He had too many words that he wanted to say and listen to, but his computational ability that was almost equal to a crystal processor was suddenly frozen, turning 'Vulture' Li Yao, the dominator of three Sectors into a silly boy. He was dazed for a long time before he finally asked, "Are you alright?"
