Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 1661
"Henceforth, the capital fleet will cruise in the whole universe regularly. Whenever it reaches a Sector, particularly one that is under the control of the powerful lords, it will use the local resources to strengthen the fleet and deal with the local corruption. It will also select the local talents and bring the best geniuses into the fleet, strengthening the court and weakening the local powers. After every twenty to thirty years, it will be possible to cruise across the Imperium. During the thirty years, even if the local powers intend to rebel, there won't be enough time for them to develop new rebellious troops. Even though corruptions take place at the bottom level, they will not spread out too severely, and most importantly, they can be excised and treated soon.
"In such a way, not just a thousand years, my Imperium will be steady, peaceful, and uncorrupted even ten thousand years later!
"The scale and combat ability of the capital fleet, including the generations of experts living in it, will be stronger and stronger. When the time is ripe and enough resources and technologies are stashed, the capital fleet will change into an expedition army to march at the grand universe!
"Li Yao, what do you think about the future that I described? Do you not believe that it is the only practical solution?"
Li Yao licked his lips again and again, only to feel that they were still dry.
The more he listened, the more he felt that Wuying Qi had a point—at least partly.
"Just like what I said, if you find any flaws or mistakes in the details, you are free to speak."
Wuying Qi said tolerantly, "As long as your point is valid, I will definitely follow your suggestion."
"Yes, there is one flaw!"
His head in a mess, Li Yao asked about one detail, "Your 'Next Sun Plan' will not kill tens of billions of people instantly but will completely disrupt their heads, transforming them into beasts that are full of killing desires. Infinite horror will be created on the capital planet. Would it cause a massive arrival of the extraterrestrial devils?"
After hearing that, Wuying Qi couldn't help but put on a gloating smile.
"It is very considerate of you to think about the extraterrestrial devils, Li Yao, but…"
Wuying Qi smiled. "There's no need to worry about the extraterrestrial devils. I have taken them into the calculation. I can even control all the devilized people and make them work for the Imperium."
"You can control the devilized people?"
Li Yao was shocked again. No, something was greatly wrong. He had neglected a very important thing.
What was it exactly? Think about it! That was Wuying Qi's greatest secret!
Yes! That's it! It doesn't make any sense!
"Speaking of which, where did you learn the secrets of the 'Gold Crystal Pyramid', Your Majesty? Not only do you know the accurate coordinates, you even know the methods to transform the Gold Crystal Pyramid into a 'gigantic brainwave enhancer', don't you?"
Li Yao mumbled in the lowest voice, "Although you spent hundreds of years in the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum, you couldn't have learned it from the Supreme Emperor because the other half of the key to open the most central part of the mausoleum wasn't found by Your Majesty, but instead, it had fallen into my hands.
"Since Your Majesty never really opened the core of the mausoleum, it was naturally impossible for you to get the whole heritages of the Supreme Imperium. Besides, I don't believe that the Supreme Emperor was the kind of person who would modify the Gold Crystal Pyramid to massively brainwash all human beings. Furthermore, the Supreme Emperor was the extraterrestrial devils' greatest enemy. There was no reason why he could control billions of devils.
"Considering the battle on the capital planet ten thousand years ago, only two people were aware of the secrets of the Gold Crystal Pyramid. Apart from the Supreme Emperor, it was 'Blood God, the Mad Armageddon'. Also, the Blood God was corrupted by the extraterrestrial devils and turned into a demonic Cultivator before he betrayed the Supreme Emperor. The rebelling army that the Blood God commanded was a coalition army of humans, demons, and devils!
"Is it possible—
"Having grown into Blackstar the Great of the Imperium of True Human Beings in only several hundred years from a crippled refugee who escaped from the Martial Meritocrats Sector, Your Majesty is somewhat related to the Blood God, the legendary strongest demonic Cultivator?"
Chapter 2622: One Stone That Kills Four Birds |
After he said that, the atmosphere in the whole illusionary realm immediately became intense.
Behind Wuying Qi's image where black smoke was popping up, tides of blood were soaring higher and higher.
An army of thousands of monsters was gathering into a new source of strength for him.
"What… a keen observation. You have exceeded my evaluation for you again and again. I'm truly appreciating you right now, Li Yao. I'm more and more inclined to kill you but finding it harder and harder to kill you!"
Wuying Qi said with a smile, "That's right. You wouldn't believe it even if I deny it. The Blood God and I were indeed in a master-disciple relationship for a while a thousand years ago. I learned a lot from the 'strongest demonic Cultivator in history'. The experience changed both me and the future of this universe.
"However, it's a very long time, and I'll tell you when there is more time. Right now, you only need to know that the Blood God is no more. He will cause no trouble to our plan."
"Did you… kill him?"
Observing his face, Li Yao rolled his eyes and said, "The Blood God taught you everything, hoping that you could grow into his tool and achieve a certain purpose for him. But out of his expectation, you did not grow into what he wanted you to be but created a unique path that is 'Immortal Cultivator'. You killed the Blood God and then established your own everlasting enterprise, right?"
Wuying Qi nodded his head and said, "You don't need to know the specific details. All you need to know is that I am absolutely not the kind of insane puppets that are controlled by the extraterrestrial devils."
"Of course, I can tell you that Your Majesty is brilliant and meticulous. However, I'm still baffled by one thing. What are the so-called 'tenebrum energy' and 'extraterrestrial devils'? Do they really only have negative influences such as destruction, slaughter, and chaos?"
"Definitely not. The tenebrum energy and the extraterrestrial devils are all very valuable. They can totally improve the civilization of mankind by ten thousand years. However, the powers of the energy and the thoughts are too advanced for most human beings to bear. That's why most ordinary people will go mad."
Wuying Qi said, "When I learned about the Blood God, I heard a lot of things about the extraterrestrial devils and the things beyond. By beyond, I mean the universe beyond the universe. It's…"
Li Yao blurted out, "Multiverse!"
"Yes, multiverse, that's a very accurate word. It seems that you do know a lot of things, Li Yao!"
Wuying Qi stared at Li Yao and continued, "Since you are aware of 'multiverse', you should know that countless bizarre civilizations exist in the multiverse. Many of the civilizations are vastly different from ours, and many are tens of thousands of years ahead of the civilization of mankind. They are truly like the legendary gods.
"However, no matter how powerful and advanced a civilization is, they cannot avoid their destiny of death. Most of the civilizations will launch the essence of their whole civilizations in a certain way before their destruction, like a dying man leaving the precious last words.
"The last words of a civilization are often launched and transmitted in the form of a certain 'wave'. They contain the legacy of the entire civilization as well as the anger and regret when it is faced with destruction. That's the prototype of 'extraterrestrial devils'."
Deeply attracted, Li Yao couldn't help but ask, "But…"
"But how do the last words of a civilization turn into ferocious 'extraterrestrial devils', right?"
Wuying Qi smiled. "It's very simple. Most civilizations did not die of natural cause, but suffered unexpected disasters and perished abruptly. In the world of ancient Cultivators, if a man died in fury under torture, it would be possible that he would turn into a vicious ghost. If a civilization dies abruptly, it is also possible that its last words are filled with negative feelings and the thought of revenge.
"They hope that their legacy is found by a new civilization and that the new civilization will follow their last words and avenge them in the future. Think about it, can there be any love or beauty in those last words? They are definitely the most extreme and atrocious stuff.
"On the other hand, any legacy will be twisted and eroded during the transmission in space. Waves are never a steady means of storage in the first place. After drifting for hundreds of thousands of lightyears, it is only reasonable that they are riddled with holes and only have the mottled pieces left. Even though they record the most neutral and peaceful techniques, it is still possible that somebody will be deranged if they only practice part of the technique.
"More importantly, the civilizations and the individuals in the multiverse are mostly so different from mankind that it is impossible for us to understand each other.
"Think about it. If a civilization of bugs that only has communities but not individuals, or if an 'individual civilization' where one life form occupies a whole planet, leaves last words, even though the last words are not malicious at all but only contain their soul marks, the ordinary people will consider themselves to be a bug in a community of bugs, or a behemothic creature that covers a whole planet, after hearing the words. How could the ordinary people not be collapsed and deranged?"
Li Yao nodded his head. "You do have a point, Your Majesty."
Wuying Qi's words fitted Long Yangjun's speculation in the past. It was very likely to be the truth.
Overly-expanding strength tended to enchant people in the first place, not to mention that it was from a completely different civilization that was thousands of years more advanced.
It was perfectly normal for the ordinary people to be crushed by such "last words".
"While the extraterrestrial devils are highly dangerous, we still need to study and analyze them, because they are too valuable. The simplest example will be the usage of the tenebrum energy, which has been brought into our universe by different extraterrestrial devils and is likely to help us break out of this universe."
Wuying Qi said, "Of course, the study and analysis on the extraterrestrial devils have to wait until I get back the Imperium. There's no need to talk about that for now. All you need to know right now, Li Yao, is that I have absolute confidence to control the extraterrestrial devils and the devilized people.
"In conclusion, my 'Next Sun Plan' can achieve four purposes!
"First of all, the four Kurfürst families' ace fleets will be crushed, and the Imperium will be regathered into an impenetrable whole!
"Secondly, all the suspicions and disputes about the relocation of the capital will be cut from the source. The political center of the Imperium will be moved from a planet to a group of starships. The civilization of mankind will be upgraded from an interstellar civilization into a grand-universe civilization!
"Thirdly, with the Deep Sea Fleet as the center, the Imperial Guards and the Astounding Thunder Fleet as the bones, and the four Kurfürst families' ace fleets as the flesh and blood, the brand-new 'capital fleet' will become the prototype of the future expedition army of the grand universe. Nothing can stop us from pressing forward.
"Fourthly, it is also very possible for us to harvest billions of devilized people. While those devilized people are ignorant slaughter machines, they can be projected to the frontline under my control as the first defense line to resist the attack of the Covenant Alliance. The extraterrestrial devils and the Covenant Alliance are sworn enemies in the first place. I believe that the devilized people will stall the Covenant Alliance long enough for me to mobilize the troops and gather my strength. The Covenant Alliance's 'ambush' will only become a joke!
"This plan is a stone that kills four birds. I've taken every detail into consideration. Every problem has corresponding solutions. I can definitely lead the civilization of mankind to a rerise. Li Yao, do you have anything else to say?"
"I do have some questions."
Li Yao said, "Please forgive my dumbness, but I haven't quite understood many details. Should we sort everything through from the beginning, Your Majesty?"
"Of course."
Wuying Qi's smile remained unchanged, but a demonic brilliance beamed out of his eyes. "However, I have better ways to show my sincerity for you, Li Yao!"
Hardly had he concluded his sentence when the black nerves, which had been as thick as vipers in the beginning, further expanded, injecting Wuying Qi's powerful mental force into the depths of Li Yao's soul as if they were transmitting blood.
The black stripes that enshrouded Li Yao were immediately connected and expanded into a gigantic black water drop, completely swallowing Li Yao.
BOOM!
Li Yao saw all kinds of illusions.
He seemed to have become the commander of the Pangu Clan who was in a dilemma, the fish who led his clan to leave the ocean and the monkey that escaped from the forest. He became a member of the primordial civilizations that had been born and died in this tiny universe billions of years ago.
Suddenly, he heard countless restless souls who died miserably berating him, claiming that he caused their deaths. It was exactly because he stopped Wuying Qi's plan that the capital fell and the Imperium collapsed. Countless people had been killed because of his mistake.
Suddenly, he saw the new Imperium and the future civilization of mankind a long time after the Next Sun Plan was enforced.
What a magnificent civilization it was! The clean and prosperous planets, the splendid capital fleet, and the tall and handsome Immortal Cultivators. Because enough living space had been found in the multiverse, even the ordinary people had gained resources that were more than what they could enjoy in their entire lives.
The pictures, the voices, the thoughts, and the marks surged into Li Yao's soul like surging blood and a swarm of beasts, crushing all the defense lines, polluting all the will, and expanding all the gaps into devastating wounds. They then further pressed into the deeper consciousness along the wounds, about to transform Li Yao's subconsciousness into a terrifying monster!
Li Yao spent a long time inside the black drop.
In the end, the black water drop blossomed like a bud, and Li Yao, whose eyes were entirely black, flew out gradually, with an unprecedented epiphany on his face.
"Li Yao, you've woken up."
Wuying Qi looked at Li Yao with a smile.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I've woken up."
Li Yao's voice couldn't have sounded more gloomy and creepy.
"How do you feel right now? Can you see the road ahead of you?"
Wuying Qi asked again.
"It's crystal clear. To think that I was unable to resolve the simple arithmetic to compare billions with trillions! What an idiot I was in the past."
Li Yao stared at Wuying Qi. With the most intense brilliance beaming out of his eyes, he slowly extended his arm and clenched his fist, before he said in the most sincere way, "Long live Your Majesty! Long live Blackstar the Great! Long live the Imperium of True Human Beings!"
Chapter 2623: Complete Submission! |
Inside the Gold Crystal Tower in reality, Li Yao's slightly closed eyelids shivered, and he slowly opened his eyes. The whole dark night seemed to have been condensed inside.
There was still a hint of confusion on his face, as if he just had a long and profound dream. While rubbing his temples, he thought in a trance. He also scratched his skin so hard that red marks were left on it, as if he were trying to break his shell and reveal his brand-new self below.
Then, he saw Wuying Qi who was standing not far away from him.
Like a black mountain, Wuying Qi occupied his entire vision.
Li Yao's eyebrows were furrowed. Two massive forces were having a fierce competition inside his heart.
His eyelids, lips, and fingers were all cramping crazily.
A moment later, with ambiguous noises echoing from the depths of his throat, he fell on one of his knees as a gesture of submission to Wuying Qi.
"Li Yao, this is exactly the effect of 'enlightenment'. How about it? It does not affect your thinking ability and your free will, does it?"
Wuying Qi asked casually.
"… It doesn't."
Li Yao's face flushed as he thought carefully for a moment and replied, "I am still a Cultivator who persists in the path of the Cultivators and loves my hometown. I still believe that the lives of so many people shouldn't be sacrificed recklessly if there is a better option. However… however—
"However, we don't have an option right now. While Your Majesty's solution seems cruel, it is the 'least bad' and the 'most effective' plan with the highest odds of success.
"Therefore, 'I am a Cultivator' and 'I support Your Majesty' are not contradictory; in fact, they can only coexist. If I am a real Cultivator who cares about the maximal interests of mankind instead of my own hypocritical moral mysophobia, I should support Your Majesty! If I don't support Your Majesty, I'll be a sanctimonious false Cultivator, as much of a scumbag as the false Immortal Cultivators, if not even worse than them!
"Everything above is the conclusion that I've made through independent and rational thinking with a clear head. It is absolutely not controlled by any force or any kind of 'evil brainwashing'. I have merely been… convinced by Your Majesty's reason."
The more Li Yao talked, the more determined and calm he appeared, as if he had truly dissected and analyzed his own brain.
"Hahahaha. It's great to know that you can think in such a way, Li Yao!"
Wuying Qi laughed aloud. "Exactly, the so-called 'brainwashing' is just reasoning in a more advanced and effective way. Is it evil and terrifying at all?"
