Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 346
To be fair, the Cultivators were still in an overwhelming advantage in regard to manpower and strength. Not just space pirates, even the Temple of Immortals behind them was not enough to confront the Cultivators head-on.
The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were like the pillars of the world of Cultivators. They were invincible and unshakable.
The problem was, one could never know when a thief would come to visit. Not every sect was guarded by Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators. Most sects were far away from each other with very bad transportation. Timely assistance was often impossible.
As strong as the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator might be, they were dispersed in the sea of stars and had to stay in the headquarters of their own sects most of the time so as to protect the precious resources and the large number of non-battle-type Cultivators.
This time, a few Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators had seized the initiative to launch an attack, only to find that their homes were invaded while they were away!
To some extent, the Temple of Immortals had fully exploited the potential of 'unrestricted warfare' and 'asymmetric strike'.
The overall peace of the Flying Star Sector that had lasted for hundreds of years was shattered in three days of chaos!
A great era of storm and thunder, when blood and bravery surged and heroes distinguished themselves, had come!
The bad news frustrated Huangpu Xiaoya, who couldn't feel more awful.
But Li Yao completely disregarded the crystal processor. Sometimes, he would glance at it. But he devoted much of his time to the 'competition' between Huangpu Shiyi and himself.
It was not until the fifth day that he managed to dismantle the last detectaphone left by Huangpu Shiyi.
Huangpu Shiyi deserved to be the most talented genius in the circle of refiners for the last thirty years. The detectaphones and crystal cameras he had developed were big eye-openers for Li Yao, who had been inspired a lot by their structure.
After five days of competitive dismantling, Li Yao was soaked in sweat, but his understanding about precise magical equipment had reached a whole new level.
As the last detectaphone was removed, Huangpu Shiyi finally invited Li Yao for a second meeting.
This time, the conversation was located in Huangpu Shiyi's refining workshop.
In the middle of the workshop was an eye-catching platform made of black wood that looked like a giant coffin. Two weird things were placed on the platform.
The first item was some sort of a model of bushes that seemed to be made of certain silver metal. It looked like a maze and gave a weird, blood-freezing feeling of beauty.
The second item was the model of a monkey. It was a regular snub-nosed monkey. Its two eyes had been specially decorated and looked very attractive. The model was as vivid as the real thing, as if it were about to lunge forward at any moment.
See Wikipedia for more info on the term.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qi
Chapter 510: Ants and Monkey |
"It seems you are very interested in my personal collection, aren't you? This is a model of the black spot ants' home. Delicate, like glittering coral, is it not?"
Huangpu Shiyi held the model in his hands carefully and touched it with a fascinated expression, as he explained, "Black spot ants are the architects among ants. They can build up a complicated, labyrinth-like giant home deep underground. Each home can accommodate millions of ants, dozens of times more than regular ant homes can. Such a splendid ant home is a piece of intriguing artwork.
"However, black spot ants prefer to build their homes in the dry and fragile soil, and the pathways inside their home are extremely delicate and feeble, too. The tiniest force from the outside is already enough to make part of the ant nest collapse.
"Do you want to know how the humans studied the black spot ants' homes and how the most perfect model without the slightest flaw was created?
"It's very simple.
"You melt aluminum, you find an entrance of the ant home, and your pour the aluminum down. It will naturally reach every corner of the ant home.
"When the liquid aluminum cools down and turned solid again, you uproot it as one whole piece. It will be what you are witnessing right now. Delicate, immaculate, and brilliant. It will go on for thousands of years without rotting and will be granted the ultimate 'immortality'!
"As for the millions of ants inside the ant home, they were, of course, melted by the aluminum liquid and killed without leaving any traces.
"I bought this model from a female student of Flying Star University through the Spiritual Nexus.
"I investigated the little girl thoroughly and found that she was kind, innocent, and diligent.
"She used to be an ordinary girl in a remote town at the edge of the Flying Star Sector. Her parents were both peasants, and her mother had been ill in bed all year around. With unbelievable determination, she took care of her mother and did part-time jobs to get more income for her family, while she continued reading and training. Despite all the unfavorable conditions, she awakened her spiritual root and was admitted by Flying Star University!
"She was as hard-working as before when she went to college. She got full scholarships every year. Although her family was anything but rich, she always donated much of her scholarship to the people whose lives were even more difficult than hers.
"She sold this particular model online because she was raising money to help a child in her hometown, who suffered from a serious heart disease, secure a new heart for transplanting.
"In her hometown, all the folk said that such a girl was a goddess walking on the earth.
"Li Yao, my young friend, do you think, for the black spot ants, the girl is a divinity or a devil?"
Li Yao was silent.
Huangpu Shiyi leaned forward. His smiling face drew close to Li Yao from the other side of the platform, as he said lightheartedly, "It doesn't matter whether she is a divinity or a devil. The only way that the ants transmit information is through waving their antennas.
"Let's say one of the ants was standing right in front of the girl and shouted—as loud as it could—'You are a crazy devil, you ruined my homeland and you killed my family. I'm not going to let go of you. I'm going to get the most brutal revenge, even at the cost of my life!'
"However, from the girl's point of view, she only saw that an ant was waving its antennas crazily.
"In fact, if the girl wasn't scrutinizing this particular ant with a magnifying lens, she might not know that it was waving its antennas at all!"
Huangpu Xiaoya sat back and stared at Li Yao with a smile.
What disappointed him was that Li Yao was utterly emotionless. He only turned at the model of the monkey and asked, "What is this?"
Huangpu Shiyi put the ant home back and picked up the model of the monkey. He touched the monkey's head and said softly, "This is a brown-tailed snub-nosed monkey, one of the most commonly-seen monkeys. They are everywhere in the Flying Star Sector. You may have seen them in many world fragments, too.
"Early in the days of the Star Ocean Imperium, the research-type Cultivators had already begun to study the mysteries of genes. Do you know what genes are?"
Li Yao nodded. "I do.
"In the legends, the ancestors of human beings were the greatest species in the primordial era, such as tyrannosaurs, Megalodons, Sarcosuchus, Eight-Armed Golden Apes, and so on!
"Despite the amazing techniques that the greatest species had, they were doomed to extinction by the wear and tear of time and the strikes of countless apocalypses.
"Before their extinction, they had condensed the essence of the experience of their entire species into an information stream and sent it into their designated successors.
"Such information is known as 'genetic information'.
"Human beings are the descents of countless primordial species. Our cells contain the genetic information that has been passed on from billions of years ago.
"This genetic information is like mysterious helical chains that interweaved into our life and soul.
"Genetic information is the foundations of our life and the heritage we acquired from our earliest ancestors.
"Therefore, the genetic information hidden in the deepest part of our cells is known as 'Gene Chains'."
Huangpu Shiyi nodded in approval. "Excellent. You know the definition of genes very well! But do you know the latest conclusion of the Flying Star Sector's experts about the difference in genes between humans and monkeys?"
Li Yao raised his eyebrow.
Huangpu Shiyi smiled and extended two of his fingers. "Two percent.
"There are many kinds of monkeys. Some of the monkeys have more different genes compared to humans'. The difference can be above 3%. Some particularly smart monkeys, who can learn how to crack open nuts with simple tools by themselves, only have a genetic difference from humans of 1.7%. By estimation, monkey genes as a whole are only 2% different compared to human beings'!"
Li Yao said, "So?"
Huangpu Shiyi's smile suddenly turned extremely hideous. After a brief pause, he continued, one word after another. "Do you want to know how big the genetic difference between ordinary people and Cultivators is?"
Li Yao narrowed his eyes to such a degree that they became two shining lines.
Huangpu Shiyi didn't tell him the answer. He sniffed and, touching the head of the monkey, remarked, "The most important thing about Cultivation is to find your true self and to realize what a unique existence you are in the dark universe! I placed the two personal collections on this platform. Every day, when I see them while I am working, I can always understand something new from them.
"Li Yao, I'm very happy that you've been dwelling in the game that I carefully prepared.
"The game was meant for Huangpu Xiaoya, but you gave me a bigger surprise by cracking so many crystal cameras and eavesdroppers in half of the time that I expected!
"From your expression, I can tell that you and I are the same type of people. We are born for magical equipment, which is our world, our universe, and our sea of stars!
"Come on. Join the Temple of Immortals and become an Immortal Cultivator. I do think very highly of you, and I'm willing to recruit you as my first, and perhaps last, disciple. You will be able to learn all my expertise!"
Weird brilliance beamed out of Huangpu Shiyi's eyes. He extended his withered hands toward Li Yao.
Li Yao's eyes stopped briefly at his hands, as he suddenly sneered in derision. His face turned crazy and disobedient, as he said, "Huangpu Shiyi, you are right about one thing. I don't care about the difference between Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators. The death of the ordinary people whom I barely knew had nothing to do with me whatsoever.
"My dream is to become the strongest refiner in the universe and to refine the most terrifying, the most violent, and the most dominating magical equipment. Everybody in the sea of stars will hear the name of Li Yao. Every star in the sky will tremor in fear at the brilliance of my magical equipment!
"However, even though you are adept at theories, what makes you think you are qualified to be my master with your useless hands?"
Huangpu Shiyi's pupils suddenly shrank.
Li Yao suddenly changed his tone and said, "Unless, of course, you prove yourself to be capable enough first!"
Huangpu Shiyi burst into laughter. "The shuttle that fooled you was not evident enough?"
"No. That was far from enough."
Li Yao continued, "Besides, you are asking me to change my side and betray the Cultivators. Chances are that I will be hunted by them and have to hide in darkness in the future instead of receiving the cheers and admiration of thousands of people. You'll have to pay me some 'down payment' first.
"I'm not some juvenile whom you can deceive with some metal garbage, a model of a monkey, and some bulls*it.
"In the place where I grew up, even a glass of water recycled from urine or a tin of man-made air had to be traded with real money. Your fancy speech meant absolutely nothing to me!"
Huangpu Shiyi slapped the platform and said, "Very soon, Immortal Cultivators will appear in front of mortals in broad daylight. Billions of people will kneel before us and worship us! You will get however many cheers you want by then!
"But it's reasonable that you don't believe it for now. Tell me, what 'down payment' do you have in mind right now?"
Li Yao licked his lips and put on a greedy face. "You showed Huangpu Xiaoya and me the scenes of the explosions in the Skyhill Domain. From the picture, I could tell that the serial explosions took place in multiple locations at the same time and resulted in tremendous damage!
"Even though there were not many Core Formation Stage Cultivators in the Skyhill Domain, their level of alertness must've been at the maximum, considering that it was the time of Skyhill Sword Seminar after all.
"Although you successfully infiltrated and installed bombs right before their eyes without being discovered, the bombs wouldn't have been too numerous, and their size must've been small.
"My conclusion is that you had bombs whose size is disproportional to their damage.
"In the meantime, you had an expert of explosions on your side who knew how to deploy the bombs to maximize the potential damage by taking advantage of the structural weak points of the environment. The damage of the bombs could be brought up by hundreds of times in such a way. Therefore, you destroyed two floating mountains with just several bombs!
"If my guess is correct, this expert of explosions was yourself?"
Huangpu Shiyi laughed and bragged, "Yes. I've always believed that crystal bombs are the strongest magical equipment. Their power is limitless, and when it is fully and instantly unleashed, even an expert multiple times stronger than you might be slain easily in a single breath!
"Although I am not a battle-type Cultivator, hundreds of renowned Cultivators have been killed by my crystal bombs!"
Eagerness was shining in Li Yao's eyes, as he blurted, "I've always believed so, ever since I was a kid! Crystal bombs are the best magical equipment! So, teach me everything you know about crystal bombs!"
Chapter 511: Super Explosion Expert |
"Huh?"
Huangpu Shiyi was caught off guard.
He had made thorough plans to deal with Li Yao. He'd invited Li Yao to his workshop because he was going to convince him of the true meaning of the ultimate Daoism.
He was certain that, after a few hours of brainwashing, Li Yao's mental defense line would definitely collapse!
He had never expected the guy to be so 'realistic' as to not bother about the disparity between regular Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators at all as long as the reward was attractive enough.
Huangpu Shiyi had tempted hundreds of Cultivators and turned them into Immortal Cultivators.
But he had never seen such a shameless Cultivator before!
Crystal bombs techniques were what he had always been best at. They had been gathered bit by bit at the cost of lengthy suffering after he joined the Temple of Immortals. The setbacks he had endured and the price he had paid were unimaginable for other people. He wouldn't have been able to grasp them without his extreme craziness!
And this guy was asking for all of them just like that?
Huangpu Shiyi's face immediately turned cloudy. He coughed and said, "We will have a lot of time in the future to discuss the techniques. Why don't we talk about the difference between regular Cultivators and Immortal Cultivators first?"
Li Yao chuckled. "You people of The Temple of Immortals are quite verbose. You talked about immortality and endless mysteries of the universe and the path that nobody had ever set foot on before. But I didn't expect that you would be so petty. Just a few techniques, and you are trying to keep them a secret!
"How can I believe that there will be endless benefits after I join you if you are so mean?
"Bring me back. This is my only condition. Don't talk to me again until you agree to it.
"You can turn it down, but if you agree to it, you'd better offer me something authentic. Truth be told, I'm a bomb expert myself. If I find out that you are giving me fake techniques, I will be even more disappointed in the Temple of Immortals."
Li Yao finished his talk and walked out of the room, not once looking back at Huangpu Shiyi.
Huangpu Shiyi was coughing louder and louder. His graceful manners when enjoying the ant home and the monkey model a moment ago had entirely disappeared.
He pondered for a moment and could do nothing but wave his hands in frustration. Black Stone and White Dew immediately showed up.
Barely had Li Yao left his sight when Huangpu Shiyi slapped the desk hard and bellowed angrily, "Damn. He is not even a Core Formation Stage Cultivator, and he dared to talk to me like that!"
In a corner, Su Jiuzhen gradually appeared out of thin air, before he shrieked, "A young man in his twenties whose refining skills are in the middle-to-high level of the Building Foundation Stage and whose combat ability is in the beginning level of the Building Foundation Stage is indeed qualified to be egotistical."
Huangpu Shiyi gnashed his teeth. "Master Su, do I really have to bring out the best secret arts of mine to satisfy the boy so that he will be willing to join us?"
Su Jiuzhen smirked. "Alternatively, you can look at the whole thing from a different perspective. You are not the only refiner at the Core Formation Stage in the Temple of Immortals. Your techniques are not the only valuable ones, either.
"With the boy's current capability, there are bound to be a lot of other refiners at the Core Formation Stage in the Temple of Immortals who are interested in him. If one of them recruits him as a disciple in the future, what do you think his impression of you will be?"
Huangpu Shiyi was dazed. "About that—"
Su Jiuzhen said with a cold smile, "Competitiveness is a virtue inside the Temple of Immortals. The strong feast upon the weak, and the strongest take all! You wouldn't want an ambitious but also hostile competitor among us in the decades to come, would you?
