Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1261
"If you had truly been knocked to the ground by him and the Heavenly Fire Thunderous Strike Rings were taken away, wouldn't it prove that you were trying to keep the possessions to yourselves? In my opinion, in such an inadequate place as the Land of Sins, and at such a sensitive period before the 'Bliss Ceremony', the crime can be either severe or grave, but it will definitely be a great blow on the authority of the village leader.
"Because of the serious illness, the village leader's strength has plummeted, which has already shaken his position. If his daughter and his disciple have a 'misdemeanor' and break the rule that he made himself, how could he continue working as the village leader?
"Judging from the confident appearance of Zhao Chong just now, it seems that the 'captain of the exploration team' is an important post in the village. If the village leader has lost both his strength and his authority, it is possible that he will be able to take his place.
"But as it turned out, your strength far exceeded the expectations of Zhao Chong and his father. The two of you seemed to be on par with each other in the fight. Should you have luckily knocked Zhao Chong down, the issue of him intentionally provoking you or even setting you up might have been mentioned. Then, everything would have been very tricky. That's why the captain of the exploration team showed up in time and stopped your fight, and that's why I asked you if Zhao Chong's father wants to become the village leader."
The two little fellows were dumbfounded for a long time before they finally digested Li Yao's simple analysis. Looking at each other in bewilderment for a while, they eyed Li Yao in a more respectful way.
Han Te thought for a long time. He nodded first but shook it later. "Well, yes and no. In the villages of the Desolate Worlds, the captain of the exploration team is indeed a very important post because they are responsible for the hunting of animals and treasures in the city ruins with the most elite warriors of the village. If assets fall from the sky far away and must be collected, the captain of the exploration team will generally lead the charge. It's a very dangerous and very important job. Generally speaking, they are always the top-ranked experts in the village, and they are essentially 'vice leaders' of the village."
Li Yao nodded and added, "Understood. A vice leader in charge of military affairs."
"Zhao Chong's father Zhao Lie is indeed a very awesome expert. It is said that he used to be a tough bandit in the Bloody Worlds, but he suffered some wounds, and his Cultivation dropped a little bit, making it impossible for him to survive in the Bloody Worlds anymore. That's why he ran to this Desolate World and joined the Village of Peace."
"Despite his unknown wounds, he is still one of the best experts in the Desolate Worlds," Liu Li added. "His strength was only slightly lower than my dad's in the first place, and he had abundant fighting experience. That's why he was appointed as the captain of the exploration team."
Li Yao was slightly dazed. "Even tough bandits can join your village?"
"According to the old people, his identity was unknown at the beginning. He was found lying outside of the village, covered in bruises and blood. It was not until after his injuries were recovered and his strength was revealed that somebody gradually guessed his origins," Han Te said. "At that time, he worked very hard for the village. He helped the village find a lot of good things from the city ruins and hunted many ferocious animals. He was also willing to teach his techniques to the young people in the village. So, how could they have kicked him away?
"Besides, what's the difference between bandits and sinners in the Land of Sins? Who can really distinguish them?"
"Uncle Zhao Lie… is probably not entirely a bad person. He perhaps does not want to be a simple village leader, either." Liu Li was actually defending Zhao Lie. "He saved my father's life many times. When their relationship was best, they were like real brothers. Uncle Zhao Lie is as credible as my father for what the Village of Peace has achieved today.
"It is a shame that they gradually split apart and turn against each other because of different ideologies."
"Oh? What kind of different ideologies?" Li Yao asked in great interest.
"My father is more conservative. He believes that it will be good enough if the Village of Peace is kept to the scale of several thousand people," Liu Li said. "My father always says that we should never attack until we are attacked. Since we are the biggest village in the hundreds of square kilometers around, we have to give other people something to survive on. There is no need to drive them to death ruthlessly.
"Zhao Lie, however, believes that even if you do not want to hurt a tiger, the tiger will still swallow you. The Village of Peace today is so prosperous that it has become a common enemy for all the villages nearby. Even if we let them go occasionally, they will not bear the favor in mind and will only try to diminish and even destroy us."
"Therefore," Han Te said coldly, "we must attack actively while we are strong to annihilate all the villages nearby in order to guarantee the safety of our village. If we don't, we will certainly be attacked one day!"
Chapter 1962: Its Name Is 'Fiend Star'! |
"All in all, Uncle Zhao Lie believes that my father's petty kindness will only bring us trouble and that we will be killed sooner or later if we idle by. For the future of the Village of Peace, we have to attack and demolish all the villages nearby."
After a long sigh, Liu Li said, "My father thinks that Uncle Zhao Lie cannot change his nature of a bandit and that his ruthlessness will be a disaster for the village!
"Zhao Lie has lived in the village for twenty years. As the captain of the exploration team who went through life and death, he made great contributions to the village many times. Naturally, a bunch of disobedient, ambitious guys listened to his command and demanded to sweep across all the villages around and take a great army to march into the 'Bloody Worlds'!"
Han Te snorted. "Many young people in the village have been deceived by Zhao Lie and convinced by his ideals. His son, Zhao Chong, has made a society named 'Iron-Blooded Youths' in the village. They cause trouble every day.
"Before, they were awed by my master's strength and only dared to instigate trouble in secret, not having the courage to jump out openly. But ever since my master's strength dropped after the uncanny illness, rumors have been spreading out of the village, and Zhao Lie and his son have become much more flagrant than before. Today, they have even provoked us blatantly. Perhaps, just like you said just now, Grandpa Yao, they are planning to kick my master aside and set up their own regime."
Li Yao was silent. In the abnormal, man-made laboratory that was the Land of Sins, it was hard to say which was correct—expand the army and embark on the path of conquest or stay in one's own territory and be secluded from the outside world.
The two little fellows led Li Yao into the bottom cabin of a boat. They zigzagged in the dark pathways for a long time before they finally entered a fairly large greenhouse, with a transparent dome made of glass and soft mud below the feet.
Li Yao's tracks slowly moved over the mud. He could sense the bountiful water and nutrition inside the soil clearly.
The soil in the greenhouse was entirely different from the dry land that suffered from radiation and pollution outside. It was full of the flavor of vigor.
As far as he could see, green-and-gold crops whose name Li Yao did not know were grown in the field. Their ears were so full that they were about to explode and were dangling down like windchimes, emitting a refreshing fragrance.
Deep inside the greenhouse, a slim man with thick bones, whose arms and legs were particularly long but whose skin was dry and sallow, was tending to the crops carefully but somewhat clumsily.
His solemn expression when he was watering the crops seemed to suggest that he cherished every drop of water he had.
"Master!"
"Dad!"
Han Te and Liu Li hurried to greet him.
The middle-aged, disease-stricken man with a pair of clear and sharp eyes was Gu Zhengyang, the leader of the Village of Peace, known as 'Sky Breaking Hammer'.
"You've been to Area A3?" Gu Zhengyang's eyes were as sharp as lightning as he observed them for a long time. Concluding that neither of them were seriously hurt, he finally heaved a sigh of relief. He coughed lightly before he said with a reproaching tone, "As I told you before, I am merely exhausted and do not have any serious issues. Even if I did, would your trip to Area A3 help at all? The future of the Village of Peace depends on you. You must not toy with your life!"
The two little fellows lowered their heads under the criticism.
Gu Zhengyang sighed and said, "Is everything okay?"
"Yes. Everything is great!" Han Te rolled his eyes and then released a tiny ball of lightning inside his palm. Making the deep blue electric arcs outside swirl quickly, he declared, "Master, look, my Cultivation is slowly recovering!"
"What?" Gu Zhengyang was rather shocked. He grabbed Han Te's wrist and sensed the flow of spiritual energy inside his veins. Then he was even more baffled. "It's true. Your veins have all been dredged. They are now even broader than before. What—what exactly happened?"
Han Te looked at Liu Li and coughed. He began to tell the tale that Li Yao had given him on the way here. "We came across a Thunder Juggernaut that we had never seen before in the underground city in Area A3. The stripes on its skin were like stars, with ripples spreading out. It was not a tumor that grew above its head but something like a blossoming flower. There were also dozens of bluish tentacles inside the pistils. All in all, the creature was weirder than anything I've ever seen!
"Since we'd run into each other in the narrow path and I did not have anywhere to escape, I could only fight the mutated Thunder Juggernaut. Naturally, I was no match for the beast. I was gradually running out of strength and about to be killed in its bloody mouth, so I made up my mind and thought I'd better die together with the animal. In the moment, I grabbed the 'pistils' above its head and yanked them hard!
"After that, I heard a deafening roar and felt that an overwhelming torrent of lightning flooded into my body, electrocuting my internal organs, veins, and nerves into burnt coal. I couldn't hold out any longer and passed out!"
Gu Zhengyang was hooked by the story and naturally did not realize that his disciple was making up the 'fierce fight'.
"Yes. I watched the whole battle nearby, and I was rather shocked, too!" Liu Li helped with the explanation. "I saw that an enormous ball of lightning enveloped my senior brother and leaked into his body in streams. His veins, bones, and internal organs were all revealed under the electrocution! Perhaps that was the life-saving ultimate skill of the 'mutated Thunder Juggernaut'. All in all, it ran off after releasing the high-intensity electric currents."
In great delight, Han Te described vividly, "I did not know how long it passed when I was finally woken up by my junior sister from the coma. After I woke up, I felt pain all over my body as if it had been torn apart, but my Cultivation was somehow greatly recovered. Also, the spiritual energy inside my body was flowing much more agilely and vigorously!"
"Master, please take a look for me. What exactly happened?"
Gu Zhengyang groped Han Te's bones and acupoints carefully for a while. With intense confusion beaming out of his eyes, he shook his head slightly and said, "A Thunder Juggernaut with starry spots and not a tumor but a flower above its head? I have never heard of such a species before. Perhaps it is a new mutant.
"As for what happened to your body, it is quite perplexing. The ultra-powerful electric arcs unleashed by the mutated Thunder Juggernaut should've killed you directly. Perhaps they conflicted with the strength that smoldered inside your body, and the blocked acupoints were broken through again.
"I need to consider the specific reasons carefully. The bottom line is, it was not right for the two of you to sneak out. The disaster turned out to be a blessing this time, but will you have such good luck next time? Cough, cough, cough, cough…"
"Master, we both know we were wrong."
Following Han Te's hint, Liu Li hurried to move forward and massaged her father's back. Han Te took the opportunity to change the topic by pushing Li Yao forward. "Right, master. We also found a treasure in the underground part of Area A3. Look!"
"A civil puppet… for cleaning and maintenance purposes?" Gu Zhengyang eyed it up and down. "It is an ancient model, but it is still in a good condition. At the very least, it is still functional. We may get a few coins if we sell it on the black market. If we slightly modify it, it can also stay and help us maintain the village. You've done a good job."
"No, dad. It is very impressive." Liu Li also followed the script that Li Yao had them without changing her facial expression. "It is no common puppet for cleaning and maintenance purposes. We believe that somebody might have poured enormous war puppet databases into its crystal processor, which can turn it into a very powerful 'war pattern'. The only problem is that its shell right now is too weak for it to perform the skills."
"Just like this."
Han Te threw a piece of rotten wood at Li Yao casually. After a sharp edge flashed, Li Yao controlled the jigsaw of the Universal Janitor to trigger dozens of arced lights and chop the rotten wood into a hundred fragments in the same size.
"Look, master. This is not something that an ordinary civil puppet can do. We believe that a lot of mysterious things must be hidden deep inside its crystal processor. After all, hundreds of years have passed since Judgment Day. Who knows what the people hundreds of years ago did to the machine?"
Han Te rubbed his fists in enthusiasm. "Liu Li and I thought about dismantling the crystal processor and seeing what makes it so weird. But the studies of crystal processors in the 'Desolate Worlds' are too unprofessional. It is possible that we will not be able to reassemble it after we dismantle it! All in all, I feel that there might be a nice surprise if we strengthen and upgrade it with some military components!"
"A civil puppet that holds military databases?" Gu Zhengyang was slightly dazed, not entirely interested in Li Yao's performance of dissecting the rotten wood instantly. He smiled and said, "You are indeed very creative. It does make sense. The ancient people hundreds of years ago were fond of making strange, mysterious stuff. There are too many incomprehensible things in the Land of Sins today. A civil puppet with a military pattern is not a big deal.
"This is an unimportant issue. Since it was the two of you who discovered the item in the highly-dangerous area outside of the village, it belongs to you. Whatever components you want to strengthen and modify it with, just take them from the warehouse. But remember, even if you take away nothing more than a screw, you must leave the record on the ledger and exchange your contributions in the Bliss Ceremony for it."
"Great!"
The two little fellows cheered at the same time.
In such a case, Li Yao would have enough components of a low level to perform the first modifications on the ragged body.
Then, if he displayed a shocking performance in the battle later, there would be a somewhat reasonable excuse.
Seeing that the problem that had bothered his disciple for three years was resolved and that his daughter was so happy, Gu Zhengyang felt rather happy, too, and asked with a smile, "Does this thing have a name?"
Han Te and Liu Li looked at each other and said at the same time, "Fiend Star. Its name is Fiend Star!"
Chapter 1963: Naïve Ideals |
"Beep! Beep!"
As if he were responding to the call of the two little fellows, the indicators were flashing rapidly, and the jigsaw that was supposed to trim grass was also waving softly.
"Marvelous!" Han Te rubbed his fists and said confidently, "My Cultivation is slowly recovering after my veins and nerves were broken through by the powerful electric arcs, and we have received the mysterious spiritual puppet 'Fiend Star'. They are all good signs. Master, just rest assured. Nothing will go wrong in the Bliss Ceremony this time, and we will return with full loads as we did before!"
Gu Zhengyang's smile suddenly dimmed. After a brief silence, he took a long breath and said, "About the Bliss Ceremony this time, I have transferred the command to Captain Zhao. He will be in charge of everything."
"What!" The two little fellows were shocked. "Master, how could you have given the commandership to Zhao Lie? Everybody knows that he is ambitious and has been trying to steal your power and take your place for a long time! Right now, Zhao Lie already has a batch of loyal accomplices in the village. His influence grows greater each day. If such a mission as important as the Bliss Ceremony is fully entrusted to him, he will certainly take the opportunity to gather power, win more support, and diminish your influence. In the end, he will sit on our neck!"
"Exactly, Dad," Liu Li said worriedly. "Uncle Zhao Lie's conflicts with you are becoming more and more intense. Just now, Zhao Chong even intentionally caused trouble for my senior brother and accused us of keeping assets to ourselves. It was truly shameless of him."
"I know that you have always been lenient and considered for the big picture, master," Han Te said, "but if we back off, other people will only think that we are weak and bulliable. They will show no respect for us and demonstrate their power above our head!"
Gu Zhengyang coughed for a moment and said, "You should know that I have never been a man who wanted power. Besides, there is little power in managing a village of several thousand people. If Zhao Lie wants it, he is free to take it."
"How can that work?" The two little fellows were anxious. Han Fei bulged his eyes and said, "Master, this is not about the position to lead the village. Haven't you always disagreed with Zhao Lie's belief and thought that his brutality and aggression will only bring disaster to the Village of Peace? If he truly becomes the village leader, the whole Village of Peace will become a huge nest of bandits, and war will spread to the hundreds of square kilometers around. There will never be any peace!"
