Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1376
"Hurry, say 'mom'!"
Li Yao said in a low voice, "Her killing intent is gone. She won't kill you now."
"I am a monster who was born in a laboratory."
Li Jialing's muscles were so tightened that he looked as rigid as a monster. Gnashing his teeth, he squeezed out the words one after another. "I do not have a mother!"
"Exactly."
The queen was not enraged at all but simply said casually, "I'm glad that you are aware of it."
Hardly had she concluded her sentence when the queen suddenly took action!
Chapter 2153: Gold Lion |
It was an extremely weird feeling.
The queen was obviously still, but Li Yao clearly sensed that a certain "force field" made of her blood and her soul broke out of her shell, attracted all the lightning around, and condensed them into the weird shape of a human.
The weird human of electric arcs lunged at Li Jialing in shrieks.
Greatly shocked, Li Yao summoned his spiritual energy out of natural instincts and focused it into an overwhelming hand that snatched the weird human made out of electric arcs.
BOOM!
Li Yao and the queen had a clash.
It was like a collision of two "small worlds". Their spirits and their souls were deeply entangled.
The domains of the experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage all boasted unique characteristics.
Li Yao's domain, for example, boasted the qualities of freedom, unyielding, resistance, hot blood, etc., as if it were supported by the remaining souls of the ordinary people who were insulted and who were harmed.
During exactly the same moment, Li Yao truly saw a dominating image that looked like the emperor of the universe surging out of the back of the queen.
Her domain was filled with the qualities of majesty and invincibility.
It was a real reflection of the emperors. Naturally, it was not something that Li Linghai could've grasped on her own.
Li Yao confirmed again that Li Linghai probably found the Supreme Emperor's legacy.
Other than the Supreme Emperor, which monarch could have left such a clear and daunting image after thousands of years?
"Pu!"
Li Yao was absolutely no match for the "image of the emperor". He felt that the queen's domain was teeming with billions of soldiers and starships that were bombarding his domain. His domain was wrecked into nothingness in the blink of an eye, and he was blown backward after vomiting blood.
While he was still in midair, the weird human of electric arcs triggered by the queen already grasped Li Jialing in hideous laughter, before it split apart into thousands of electric arcs and whipped the young man hard.
Even Li Yao was no match for the queen, so naturally, Li Jialing was unable to defend himself at all.
However, the stubborn young man still gritted his teeth and tightened his muscles when he was faced with his birth mother as he struggled while making animalistic roars.
Li Yao, however, was more or less relieved.
The queen did not intend to kill anyone, or she could have slain Li Jialing just now. She was merely testing his capability.
But the queen's attack seemed too heavy for a test. Every whip of electric arcs was like the brutal slash of a saber, leaving wounds deep to the bones on the young man's face and body and burning the flesh around into charcoal.
Li Jialing screamed aloud under the excruciating pain.
The queen, however, did not show any sympathy at all. She attacked while she sneered, "Too weak. How exactly did Li Lingfeng and Wuying Lan refine you? My sources reported that Li Lingfeng invested a great deal of resources on you, and yet he got such a useless garbage?"
"Hoo!"
Exasperated, Li Jialing lunged at the queen without bothering anything, only to be blown back by her whips of electric arcs time and time again.
"Weak. Weak. You are too weak. You don't know the first thing about martial arts and fighting techniques despite the reasonably acceptable body!"
The queen's voice was hastier and hastier, and the electric arcs were also falling at a higher and higher frequency. "You will be a complete redundancy if kept by my side! You don't even have any ability to protect yourself, and you may be captured at any moment and ruin my great cause!"
"Ahhhhh!"
Having no intact skin anymore, Li Jialing burst into tears and shouted like a devil, "Then kill me! Kill me! Kill me!"
"Hehe. You dare to yell at me?"
Squinting, the queen opened her hand, and the electric arcs on her fingertips were condensed into five dazzling balls of light. "You really think that I'll be lenient and let go of you?"
"Enough, Your Grace!"
Li Yao could not hold back his wrath anymore. His broken domain was condensed again, and he did not disguise his maximal strength of the Divinity Transformation Stage anymore. Both the apocalyptic body and the mental devil were set. The expanding ripples of spiritual energy exploded like bombs in the deep ocean. His fluffy hair rose up and turned into bloodred, with dark gold electric arcs dancing at the endings in sputtering noises. His roars, on the other hand, were a hundred times more astounding than the explosions of his spiritual energy. "Do not think that I've been talking to you nicely because I am scared of you. I am merely trying to accomplish my pop's last wish. But I have my boundaries too!"
Seeing that Li Yao turned into somebody else in his outrage, the queen was slightly dazed. "Huh?"
Li Jialing was also greatly shocked by Li Yao's drastic changes. "Brother Yao…"
"Li Jialing is absolutely not a monster. Do you know his biggest dream?"
With furious flames of spiritual energy burning on his body, Li Yao cut in the violent force field of electric arcs between the queen and Li Jialing impolitely, before he declared, one word after another, "No matter how Li Lingfeng allured him, he was unwilling to be Li Lingfeng's tool. He only wanted to get away from Li Lingfeng, the Li family, and the Imperium, and to find a peaceful place at the edge of the cosmos, where he could live a peaceful and carefree life!"
The queen was at a loss again.
The crazy electric arcs all dangled down as if their bones had been plucked.
"Isn't that exactly why you gave birth to him? You wanted him to escape from the turbulences of darkness and live the life that you had always desired most in your heart on your behalf."
Li Yao said, "Perhaps without you knowing it, he heard your voice in some uncanny way and inherited your wish because he is your son!"
"Enough!"
Bloody streaks popped up in the queen's almost transparent eyes, and both of her eyes turned red. She gnashed her teeth. "Don't think that you are smart enough to presume what is on my mind! And don't think that such an idiot like Li Lingfeng could be believed. Let me tell you. Of everything that the pig said, no more than 10% was true!"
"Is that so?"
Li Yao replied calmly, "Perhaps Li Lingfeng was truly a stupid pig, but he was your biological brother after all. I, for one, feel that his speculation was at least 70% accurate."
"At first, I thought that you were a smart person."
The queen's killing intent sprang again without any disguise. "But I'm starting to think that you may be even more idiotic than Li Lingfeng!"
"Possibly. Such is the case for the Cultivators. We are all hopeless morons."
Li Yao declared resolutely, "In any case, for my pop, I will not allow you to kill him. I don't know if you are really hurt, but if you dare to kill him, I guarantee that whatever ambitions or great causes you have in mind will be gone for good!"
Li Yao and Li Linghai confronted each other again. This time, both of them seemed to have unleashed their maximal fighting will.
The queen's right hand that was surrounded by electric arcs was raised high in midair for a long time, and her highly-rising breasts fluctuated for a long time. The ripples in her eyes were also struggling.
Eventually, she still—
Shua!
Five streaks of brightness darted out of her fingers as quickly as lightning, and before Li Yao realized what was going on, they shot into Li Jialing's body from the weirdest angles in almost perfect curves.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Li Jialing cried and writhed on the ground in pain. All his bones and muscles were uttering cracking noises.
"You!"
Li Yao was both shocked and infuriated. He did not expect that the queen would make up her mind of killing despite all the hesitation. The woman was truly ruthless and hopeless!
However, as he sensed clearly, he did not sense any killing intent that the queen held against Li Jialing. The overwhelming killing intent was obviously all aimed at Li Yao.
The young man who was struggling in pain on the ground, however, went through shocking mutations!
Just like Wuying Lan when Li Yao encountered him at the power core of the City in the Sky, Li Jialing's skin cracked, his muscles were ripped apart and regrown at a visible speed, his tusks pierced through his lips and even cheeks, his nails became sharp talons, and his bone protruded out of the body one after another, emanating lethal coldness!
Li Jialing truly became a ferocious monster, almost like a strengthened version of Wuying Lan.
Li Linghai's face was as gloomy as a swamp while the electric arcs on her fingertips flooded into the young man's body nonstop. She seemed to be performing a certain high-precision refinement.
Li Yao thought of something and did not interrupt the queen's procedure.
When Li Jialing's body size expanded to almost five meters like a hideous, terrifying mountain of meat, he finally began to shrivel after reaching the limits.
The weird body features were gone, but his skin gradually turned dark gold. He even grew fluffy golden hair.
In the end, he returned to the shape of a human, but his facial organs had subtle changes, and his body was covered in golden hair.
To put it in a descriptive way, the young man was like a majestic golden-haired lion that had assumed the shape of a human after training.
Of course, it was also certainly not inappropriate to say that he was like a big yellow cat.
"What… What happened to me?"
The young man was rather conscious despite the drastic changes that happened to his body. Looking at his furry arms and his fat hands in a daze, he rubbed his face hard and asked Li Yao earnestly, "What have I turned into?"
"Well…"
Li Yao looked at the young man's bottom subconsciously.
"What are you looking at?!"
As if somebody stomped on his tail, Li Jialing scratched his bottom.
"I was checking if you had grown a tail."
Li Yao really did not know what to say. "Don't worry. There aren't any. Also, you look… very handsome right now. Really. If you make a name for yourself later, you will probably win a nickname such as 'Gold Lion', which will sound much cooler than my 'Vulture'."
"What have you done to me?"
Feeling like crying, Li Jialing stared at the queen.
"I hate to see you around with… that man's face."
Li Linghai said indifferently, "Also, I just killed Li Lingfeng. If you walk around in the capital under the identity of 'Li Jialing', you will certainly cause me a lot of trouble. Someone will even trace you and find out my weakness.
"Your appearance is not built by me but contained in your genes in the first place. God knows what kind of refinements Li Lingfeng and Wuying Lan did to your genes and how many weird things they have injected into your body. Your cells are an absolute mess.
"Just now, I merely stimulated your cells with my secret arts and tried to awaken a part of your 'primeval cells' to more or less change your look. I did not expect to see such a comprehensive change. But this is not half bad. At the very least, nobody will be under the impression that the two of us are in any way related."
Chapter 2154: Just a Deal |
"Rest assured. I have nothing to do with you at all!"
From the young man's round eyes that had turned yellow, tears that were emitting vague gold brilliance flowed out. He lost control of himself and shouted, "You are not my mother, and I am not your son. If possible, I would rather mince myself into pieces and return all the genes back to you!"
"Very good. If you can always remember your identity and your declaration, we will get along with each other much easier."
The queen said coldly, "I will not kill you… for now, but I will not allow such a giant bomb that carries my genes to run loose outside either. You have to stay by my side under my close watch, and you are not to say or do anything without my permission.
"Of course, I will not keep you forever. If everything goes well, nobody will be able to stop me in a few years. When the four Kurfürsten and other noble families are no longer a problem, I will give you a starship, find a warless world at the edge of the Imperium's territory, and let you fulfill your wish. You can live a carefree and unrestrained life there.
"You may consider it a deal. After all, you have spent so many years under Li Lingfeng's shelter. You'll be given real freedom if you stay by my side for a couple of years more. How does it sound? Or do you want me to destroy you right now and take back all the genes that I granted you?"
"You—"
The young man who looked like a gold lion or a yellow cat gnashed his teeth again. He was about to mock back when his shoulder was pressed hard by Li Yao.
"Yes. He said yes. A very fair deal!"
Li Yao said in a hurry. He then turned around and persuaded the young man, "Don't be rash. Despite her cold face and her foul mouth, the key point of her words is that she is not killing you now! What does it mean? It means that, although she has just killed her biological brother, is making certain schemes against the entire Imperium, threatens to kill you multiple times, and is a cold, heartless, and ruthless monster for power, she is essentially a good woman and a good mother, isn't she?"
Li Jialing's face was brimming with suspicion. "… Is she?"
Li Yao: "Fine. I may have exaggerated a bit. She is indeed not exactly a good mother. But the important thing—the important thing is that I jumped to the Imperium through the entire sea of stars and found you two by sheer luck. Would you please take your own life slightly more seriously? Even if it is not for your own sake, you should at least consider it for your deceased father's sake. At least, he did you nothing wrong, and he would've been overjoyed if he learned of your existence! Take a guess. When your soul goes to the other world and he learns that it was your mother who killed you, what will he think?
"Let's repeat what I said. Give yourself an opportunity, and give her an opportunity, alright? Chances are that if you give each other an opportunity and spend some time together, you will discover that the queen actually has her reasons and she is forced to do what she is doing now, right?"
"I am not forced by anyone."
The queen interjected coldly, "Li Lingfeng was not wrong about at least one thing. I do enjoy the ecstasy brought by power. In any case, I have to get the supreme power. Things like son are not within my consideration at all."
Li Yao felt that his head was exploding. "Can we talk nicely, Your Grace? As a sophisticated schemer, why can't you lie to him for now?"
"Forget it."
Li Jialing bit his lower lip with his small canine teeth. "This is good, talking everything through at the very beginning. When there is no hope, there will be no disappointment. When there is no deception, there will be no pain. Instead of being covered in lies right now and suffering excruciating pain when the truth is revealed, this is perhaps for the best.
"Alright. I… I agree to your terms. Rest assured. I'll bear my identity in mind at all times. You are the high and mighty queen, while I am just an abnormal monster. I do not dare to be related to you at all. Even if I am caught by the enemy, I will not admit that you are my… gene provider no matter how they interrogate me."
"That seems… all we can do for now."
Li Yao looked at the queen helplessly and asked, "Right. Can he still resume his original appearance? Well, don't overthink. I'm not saying that you look terrible right now. In fact, it is rather… adorable. I'm just asking by the way."
"As long as you can advance to the level where you can control all the cells over your body freely at will, you will naturally be able to suppress the agitating cells and resume your original look."
The queen said casually, "This is also sort of a small training for you to remind you of the strengthening of your cells.
"Wuying Lan and Li Lingfeng were two irresponsible and whimsical scumbags. They have injected an assortment of drugs into your body, turning your cells and your blood into a mess. It is almost a terrible disaster. This is a good opportunity for you to polish your own body.
"After we return to the Deep Sea Fleet, I will naturally teach you some body-polishing techniques of higher levels. I hope that you can fully carry out the potentials of the unique body.
"Make no mistake. I just don't want to bring a pure burden with me, which will definitely jeopardize my cause. At the very least, if you are caught by the enemy, I hope that you will at least have the ability to end yourself."
"I understand you perfectly."
Li Jialing said sullenly, "There will be absolutely no misunderstanding or unnecessary hope."
The three of them looked at each other somewhat in embarrassment.
"Great!"
Li Yao suddenly clapped his hands and said, "All the dark clouds in the sky are gone. We have talked everything through, and the family is reunited. Today truly calls for celebration, does it?"
Not saying anything, the queen groped on the ground with the electric arcs on her fingertips, picking up the three Cosmos Rings left by Li Lingfeng. Then, she retrieved a smaller armor from her own Cosmos Ring and tossed it to the ground before she turned around and left quickly, as if she did not want to talk anything more to Li Jialing.
"Let's go too."
Li Yao stuffed the armor into the young man's arms and watched him put it on. Then, they followed the queen to move forward. He said, "Don't be so stubborn. Try to get in touch with her more and let her have the fun of being a mother. My intuitions tell me that her heart is not as mean as her tongue, and that she can take adulations but not insults. If you can just play cute, I bet her heart will be softened!"
