Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 600
"I was heavily wounded, surrounded, chased, and blocked by the enemy. I fled to a cliff by myself. Having nowhere to run to, I was unwilling to fall into the hands of the enemy because I knew that endless suffering would be waiting for me. Therefore, I simply jumped off the cliff, hoping to get a clean death.
"But I did not expect that weird winds and turbulence that looked like a giant swirl were right below the cliff. They brought me into a mysterious cave that was hidden inside the crags.
"It was a residence of Chaos."
Li Yao frowned. "A residence of Chaos?"
"In today's words," the Fire Ant King said, "it was sort of a research center of Chaos.
"Chaos was not only the code name of an individual but also the name of an enormous organization. During the early stages of the Demon Beast Empire forty thousand years ago, the Blood Demon Sector was the last base of resistance for the organization.
"Therefore, residences of Chaos are all over the Blood Demon Sector. Research centers, magical equipment warehouses, weapon factories, training fields, you name it.
"The Mausoleum of Chaos is just one of the residences that was the largest in scale, highest in level, and supervised by Chaos in person."
Manipulating Neltharion, Li Yao slowly lowered the main gun of the warship, as if he were nodding his head, and gestured for the Fire Ant King to continue.
"This particular residence was not large, but the secret treasures inside the residence were great eye-openers for me.
"At that time, I was heavily wounded, and my head was muddled. Remembering that my enemy was close behind me, I thought that I should look for a suitable weapon.
"As a result, when I picked up a rusted ancient sword, my finger was accidentally cut by it. My blood turned bright purple, mixed with a greasily smell, when it flowed out of the wound.
"I remember the smell clearly even to this day.
"The bright purple blood was soon absorbed by the ancient sword. It seemed to be connected to my mind and became an extension of my limbs. Moreover, a lot of brutal sword techniques were also sent over to me!
"Other than the secret training arts from forty thousand years ago, more importantly, I discovered a few dead bodies inside the residence and found the coordinates of a few other residences of Chaos from them.
"Perhaps because the ancient sword had drained me, I fell into coma.
"When I was back to myself, I found myself floating inside the surging river right below the cliff and struggling hard. Ferocious demon beasts below the river were even biting my feet!
"I was dragged to the bottom of the river by the demon beasts. Believing that I was doomed, I slashed crazily with the ancient sword that was connected to me, hoping that I should at least kill some of them before I was killed. Eventually, I was exhausted and passed out again.
"When I woke up the second time, I found that Nether Spring was carrying me and running inside a forest staggeringly.
"According to Nether Spring, he had found me in the river shoal, and the cliff behind me had already collapsed.
"Later, after three months' hunting and escaping, we were lucky enough to make it back to the Nether Spring Kingdom.
"With the marvelous achievements during the operation, Nether Spring and I finally gained a firm position in our family and started rising up. Eventually, seven years later, the main descendants of the family who set us up years ago had all been butchered by us!
"However, the residence of Chaos that I found in the cliff was like a haunting dream for me, which I couldn't let go of day and night. The records inside the residence that were completely different from the traditional theories of the Blood Demon Sector always felt fresh to me.
"If it were a different silver-blood demon, they might not have thought too much of it and just believed that they were unbelievably fortunate.
"But there was another great secret about me.
"You were observing next to us when I was fighting Nether Spring just now, weren't you? Then you must have seen my ugly tail!
"Haha. The heavens played a terrible prank on me. I am not a pure silver-blood demon but an untouchable chaotic-blood demon!
"The two things combined made me uninterested in the competition for power in the Nether Spring Kingdom. I found an opportunity and left the Nether Spring Kingdom. I travelled alone for a while, under the pretext that I was training in solitude, but I was in fact visiting the other residences of Chaos.
"Because of the passage of time and the change of terrain, several residences of Chaos had already been buried, leaving no traces. But still, I managed to excavate some of them.
"I received tremendous resources and information from those residences.
"With the resources, I established Void Turmoil City and my own forces. Then, I gathered the scattered organizers of the believers of Chaos in the world and set up the 'Blade of Chaos'.
"After the Blade of Chaos took shape, it was much more convenient to excavate the residences of Chaos. After combining all the pieces that I had found, I gradually noticed the 'Mausoleum of Chaos'.
"It was said that the Mausoleum of Chaos was the biggest bureau of the organization of Chaos forty thousand years ago and the place where 'Chaos' was buried. His legacy boasted such tremendous strength that whoever inherited it would be able to change the world!
"At that time, the integration of the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector was already unstoppable. Countless low-level demons were being obliterated in the battlefield like cannon fodder. The Blade of Chaos reached the most perilous moment. I had no choice except to excavate the Mausoleum of Chaos at whatever cost!
"Then, I received a piece of very interesting news.
"Nether Spring was interested in Chaos, too. He had even created his own research centers for related studies, and some of his findings even surpassed mine.
"I thought hard for a long time. Finally, it occurred to me that Nether Spring might have entered the residence years ago, too, and discovered part of the secrets of Chaos, but he lied to me that the residence had collapsed.
"At that time, I had been heavily wounded. Naturally, I could not return and check whether or not the residence was still there.
"Years later, when I visited the place again, the cliff had indeed collapsed, but it was also possible that Nether Spring had demolished it later.
"After realizing that, I immediately regarded Nether Spring as the most dangerous enemy and decided to strike his research with my best. I could not allow to let him learn the mysteries of Chaos earlier than I did!
"But I did not know that everything had been within his calculations and that I was being manipulated by him step by step all the time. You have seen what has become of me and my cause right now."
After hearing that, Li Yao finally understood the grudge between Elder Nether Spring and the Fire Ant King. Thinking for a moment, he asked, "You stole a bottle of mysterious liquid from Nether Spring's laboratory in Bone Sand City. What is it exactly?"
The Fire Ant King was dazed for a moment, with astonishment slightly beaming out of his eyes. He did not expect that the mysterious expert would even know such a thing.
After pondering carefully for a moment, he still decided to tell the truth. "The liquid is named 'Divine Blood of Chaos'. Of course, it is not the real blood of Chaos but an antidote, or rather, 'reduction drug'."
Chapter 904: War of Words |
"Reduction drug?" Li Yao chewed on the name. "What will it reduce?"
"Reduce the genes to their original appearance," the Fire Ant King said calmly. "Our training methodology highlights the build-up and modification on genes directly, but the gene strands and cells are a precise whole. One moment of carelessness or distraction, and the gene strands might be overly stimulated, resulting in the collapse of cells and terrible consequences that follow.
"The organization of Chaos possesses various secret techniques to refine genes and all kinds of bizarre viruses that are extremely dangerous.
"Just now, in the Mausoleum of Chaos, one of my subordinates was accidentally scratched by the claw of a dead body. Although the wound was as thin as hair and it was not even bleeding, the weird virus still snuck into his body and overly stimulated his cells!"
Li Yao frowned. "What will happen if the cells are overly stimulated?"
"Imagine you are a general and the cells and genes all over your body are your soldiers," the Fire Ant King said coldly. "Under normal circumstances, you would want to slightly stimulate the soldiers, to make them more hotblooded, excited, and fearless, so that their combat ability be significantly boosted.
"You would even want some of the 'soldiers' to mutate and grow into captains, centurions, and even chiliarches quickly, wouldn't you?
"However, if you overly stimulate them and all the 'soldiers' are caught in delirium, refusing to listen to your command at all, what will happen?
"Your 'army' will collapse and retrograde into lawless, murderous bandits who will soon be killed by their own insanity.
"It is exactly so for the excessive stimulation of cells. The cells will go out of control and act on their own. They will exploit all the energy inside your body and rage like a volcanic eruption. Sometimes, even when the master is dead, the cells remain alive and attack those around them out of natural instincts!"
"The master is dead while the cells are still alive?"
Li Yao was greatly alarmed.
"Exactly," the Fire Ant King said. "Individuals in such a state cannot be called 'corpses'; they are amalgamations of cells, or to put it more accurately, the amalgamations of hungry, crazy cells!
"Their only instinct is to proliferate, expand, and infect. All the living creatures around them will be their targets. By biting the victims, they spread out the craziness as far away as possible!"
Li Yao gasped. "And the reduction drug can suppress the cell mutations?"
"Yes," the Fire Ant King said. "The reduction drug can reduce the overly stimulated genes to their original status and pacify the simmering cells. Therefore, it is the antidote for all kinds of genetic mutations.
"To make poison, one must prepare an antidote first. Since the organization of Chaos was running a large-scale research center in this place, they were naturally prepared for the loss of control of the virus and its infection. The Reduction drugs had been produced in advance in case of such emergencies.
"I knew that we would run into a lot of unexpected dangers during the exploration of the Mausoleum of Chaos. Should anybody come into contact with the virus, only the reduction drug would be able to save their life. That was why I tried my best to steal the reduction drug from Nether Spring's laboratory. However, it was looted half way through the transportation."
Li Yao's eyes were glittering. "How much of the reduction drug is there?"
"As far as I know, there is only one bottle," the Fire Ant King said. "However, Nether Spring seems to have been working on the synthesized reduction drug, although I don't know his progress. The good thing is, though, one gram of the reduction drug is enough to soothe simmer cells in most cases.
Li Yao thought for a moment and spoke again. "What if… somebody absorbs an entire bottle of reduction drug?"
The Fire Ant King blinked and moved his demonic energy as he said slowly, "Their cells and genes will be completely restored to the original appearance. If a demon has an excessive dosage, they will probably turn into a human being… just like you."
If he were not in the darkness of dead silence, Li Yao would have let out an exclamation. Yet, he showed no response on the surface and shook Neltharion calmly. "What do you mean?"
The Fire Ant King still appeared to be a burnt trunk, but Li Yao had felt his sense of satisfaction because he was taking over the situation through the shivering demonic energy. "I've been curious since the very beginning. Even though you are an expert in the demon emperor stage, how could Nether Spring not have noticed you?
"But now, I've finally figured out that, although Elder Nether Spring was cautious enough to search for the spreading demonic energy nearby, it was not demonic energy but extremely feeble spiritual waves that you released.
"No wonder Nether Spring overlooked you!
"Although I cannot see the real appearance of the magical equipment, it is now enveloped in my demonic energy, which allows me to feel its every detail.
"The general shape and refining style of the magical equipment are similar to those of crystal warships of human beings and nowhere close to the fashion of the demon race. The shell that looks like dragon scales is clearly the distinctive feature of the Star Ocean Imperium ten thousand years ago.
"If my guess is correct, it must be a piece of training magical equipment, isn't it?
"Although I can't tell its specific model, it is doubtlessly a certain multipurpose exploration starship of the Star Ocean Imperium!"
Li Yao was not moved. He said coldly, "A piece of magical equipment from the Star Ocean Imperium, even if it is, cannot prove that I am a human being. Too many demons are using the magical equipment from mankind."
"Indeed."
After a moment's thought, the Fire Ant King said slowly. "Magical equipment of mankind can be used by demons, too. But your manipulation over the training starship is so marvelous that you are spinning the turrets and the stabilizer fins as if they are your fingers, which is certainly not doable for anybody. You must've received the highest control permissions of the training starship.
"Demons were the mortal enemies of mankind in the Star Ocean Imperium. There is no way that a training starship of the Star Ocean Imperium would allow a demon to get the highest clearances.
"Besides, impressive as your skills might be, you barely knew anything about the basic concepts that I intentionally threw out to you a moment ago, and you simply kept asking me. All things considered, I don't have a second guess on your identity now."
Li Yao secretly spat. The Fire Ant King's mediocre performance during his fight against Elder Nether Spring had misled him and made him underestimate the master of Void Turmoil City subconsciously. He did not notice the traps at all!
The demonic energy of the Fire Ant King was still shivering. "See? The exchange of information is always bidirectional. Those who seem to be raising questions are sometimes offering answers without them knowing.
"It's getting more and more interesting now. A human expert has successfully snuck into the Blood Demon Sector and even joined the exploration of the Mausoleum of Chaos. What is it that you and the force that you represent want?"
Li Yao neither acknowledged his identity nor denied it. Taking a long breath, he asked the most important question for him. "According to you, the Divine Blood of Chaos can 'reduce' demons into human beings, which means that the same-origin theory is correct. Demons used to be human beings, or rather, they are mutations of human beings, right?"
"Yes," the Fire Ant King admitted frankly. "The demon did not evolve from demon beasts; we are mutations of human beings. That is the conclusion that I've made after decades of research. Nether Spring must've drawn a similar conclusion, too."
Li Yao's head was dizzy. The turrets and stabilizer fines of Neltharion shivered rapidly. "Why?"
"I would like to know the reason, too," the Fire Ant King replied. "That's why I came to this place, to look for an answer."
"Do the members of the Blade of Chaos know the truth?" Li Yao asked again.
The Fire Ant King rolled his grey eyes and said, "Not yet. I planned to publicize the truth to everybody after we excavated the sacred body of God Chaos and found the answer to the mutation tens of thousands years ago."
Li Yao took a long breath and asked, "If demons are really mutations of human beings, and everybody is the same species, I don't see any reason why the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector must start a war that will destroy both worlds."
With a hint of mockery in his eyes, the Fire Ant King replied casually, "It is exactly because we are the same species, and we need air, water, land, minerals and other resources at the same time, that a war will break out.
"If demons are really 'demons', a completely different life form different from mankind that feasts upon rocks or electromagnetic waves, a war will be highly unnecessary."
Li Yao was lost for words. He pondered for a moment and asked, "Will the Blade of Chaos stand against the Star Glory Federation?"
With a bitter smile, the Fire Ant King asked back, "Is the Blade of Chaos qualified to stand against the Star Glory Federation?"
The answer was not within Li Yao's expectation. But on second thought, it was quite right. Whatever the Fire Ant King was thinking now, the Blade of Chaos barely had any strength left right now.
"Alright!" Li Yao said. "I can save you, on the condition that you tell me everything you know, especially the information regarding the Mausoleum of Chaos. Then, we will discuss how we can better take advantage of Elder Nether Spring!"
Their conversation was conducted through the shivering demonic energy and the turning turrets. Every word required dozens of times shivers and turns.
Besides, the Fire Ant King was tied up by highly-sensitive synthesize nerves and, therefore, did not dare to shiver greatly at all. The speed of communication was extremely low.
The dialogue just now seemed to be witty and brief, but it actually took them quite a few hours.
Thankfully, Elder Nether Spring and the Nether World Watch were too busy excavating and exploring the Mausoleum of Chaos to care about his dear brother. The two of them had plenty of time to talk with each other freely.
However, after almost twenty hours of communication, they seemed to be running out of luck—tremendous demonic energy approached the tusk cage.
"It's Nether Spring!"
The Fire Ant King immediately stopped shivering his demonic energy.
His heart palpitating, Li Yao steered Neltharion to hide behind the Fire Ant King's back.
CRACK!
The tusk cage slowly opened like a bloody mouth. Elder Nether Spring lowered his head and crawled in. The white, cold tusks closed behind him one after another, not leaving the tiniest gap.
