Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 768
"It's like one month ago. Even though I did not completely agree with his beliefs, I still understood him, trusted him, and supported him without reserve!"
Lu Zui was dazed for a moment. For the first time, there was a bit of confusion on his face.
"Therefore…" Ding Lingdang sniffed. "Even if you are almost two hundred years older than me, and you have advanced into the Nascent Soul Stage, there are certainly things that guys like you will never understand."
Lu Zui took the criticism without complaint, smiling. "It appears that I have underestimated you two. So to speak, you have agreed to my offer?"
"Says who?" Ding Lingdang frowned. "I'm still confused about one thing. Why me? I know myself very well. Awesome as I am, I'm just a Core Formation Stage Cultivator. Even in terms of appeal and the ability to rally people, there are many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators in the federation that are better than me, aren't there?"
"Yes. It's true that there are many Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators that are more suitable than you," Lu Zui said calmly. "In fact, it took me only five seconds to come up with seven Nascent Soul Stage candidates who are more suitable to be the new leader of the Patriots Partnership than you."
"…" Ding Lingdang.
With a bitter smile, Lu Zui said, "The real problem is that all the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators are powerful, experienced, and value their reputation. How can they degrade themselves by working with the stinky Patriots Partnership as the grueling, unbeneficial Sword Grabber? Won't they be sullying their name?
"Only the young, hot-blooded people who don't care about the opinions of the outside world might be bewildered by me, however unlikely. Isn't that so?"
Chapter 1171: A Hundred-Year Rivalry! |
Without caring about Ding Lingdang's angry eyes, Lu Zui simply went on. "Since it's impossible for me to convince a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, I can only turn to the Core Formation Stage Cultivators, of whom you are the best candidate.
"Maybe you still have a lot of shortcomings at this moment. You are still too young and too rash. But it doesn't matter. What I am looking forward to is what you will be like in decades to come!"
Ding Lingdang could not help but scratch her face and ask in confusion, "In decades to come?"
"Yes."
Strange brilliance beamed out of Lu Zui's eyes. He was like a smart chess player who had finally figured out the plan of the other player of the game who was smarter than him. He smiled. "Fellow Cultivator Ding, did you know? A few months ago, when I learned that Jin Tuyi was prepared to surrender for the first time, I was greatly surprised and didn't understand what he was up to at all!
"Would the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons—a great man who concealed himself for decades for the Red Tide Plan and played Elder Nether Spring like a fiddle—give up so easily?
"I'd been considering his goal and his methods. Later, I generally grasped his goal, but as for the specific methods and details, they were like a giant crocodile lurking in a swamp. I could see a scale and a paw of it, but I could not see the whole picture!
"But today, after receiving Fellow Cultivator Zhou Hengdao's letter, I burnt my life and soul and made a breakthrough by brute force, maximizing my deduction ability during that moment. Finally, I envisioned the future in Jin Tuyi's dream!
"Hahahaha. As expected of Jin Tuyi, the greatest master of strategies in the past thousand years in the Blood Demon Sector!
"Jin Tuyi and I never had the opportunity to have a head-on clash while we were both in our peak years because of all kinds of factors. It's truly a shame.
"However, it's still not too late for us to have a clash in a different way!
"Mark my words, Fellow Cultivator Ding. In the decades of integration to come, all kinds of schemers and lunatics will be born in the demon race, but they will not be the scariest things. Even if somebody else is the Sword Grabber, they can still be executed!
"However, in a few decades, the most dreadful enchantress might be born in the demon race, one who has the chance to reshape the federation into a different appearance! You will be the only Sword Grabber who is capable enough of dealing with her!
"This particular enchantress is Jin Xinyue—Jin Tuyi's daughter and the Dark Lady of Nine Heavens who rose to fame in the past few months, being worshipped by the folk of the Blood Demon Sector as salvation!"
"Jin Xinyue?" Confused, Ding Lingdang asked back, "Isn't she Li Yao's disciple? I'm told that she's the one who revealed the Red Tide Plan first. She also offered a lot of help when the Eye of Blood Demon was destroyed. She even helped Li Yao talk to her father, Jin Tuyi.
"So to speak, she has saved the lives of countless citizens of the capital city indirectly. She has done no wrong to the Star Glory Federation. She is a great contributor to the Blood Demon Sector's surrender, too.
"Hehe. Although I hate demons, I am not a rabid dog who bites anyone randomly. When you showed me the pictures where Li Yao and Jin Tuyi were together, you meant to infuriate me with jealousy, didn't you? I wasn't fooled at that time, and now you are playing the move again?"
"Then and now are different," Lu Zui replied with a bitter smile. "I hadn't figured out the logic at that time, and I thought that Jin Xinyue was just a girl whom Jin Tuyi had sent out to bewilder Li Yao. Now that I look at it, I took Jin Tuyi too lightly.
"Jin Tuyi's appetite is enough to swallow the sky. What he means to bewilder is not just a Li Yao but the entire federation!
"Yes. Jin Xinyue was the first one to reveal the Red Tide Plan. She helped Li Yao talk to the Blade of Chaos and her father. The intelligence that she provided helped Li Yao sneak into and destroy the Eye of Blood Demon!
"In terms of those actions, Jin Xinyue has indeed saves the lives of countless federal citizens, and she was a key person in facilitating the Blood Demon Sector's surrender. It is not exaggerating to call her a great contributor for the Heaven's Origin Sector.
"She was not involved in the wars to invade the Heaven's Origin Sector. Her background is clean. Also, she has taken excessive Divine Blood of Chaos and transformed into a human being, which makes her walking proof of the 'same-origin theory'.
"For the general citizens, they will not be very hostile to her. After she shows up as the 'envoy of peace', she will be embraced by the public readily and thereby step into the world of politics in the federation.
"Moreover, she is also Li Yao's true disciple!
"Although I hate to admit it, it is true that Li Yao today is like the sun at noon. He boasts tremendous influence in the federation. He has enormous connections and interests in the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, and the Flying Star Sector. He can be even considered the bridge for the integration of the three Sectors!
"Right now, the name 'Li Yao' alone represents unbelievable political, economical, and martial resources. In the next hundred years, such resources will definitely grow and expanded into a gargantuan creature that spans across the sea of stars!
"The problem is that Li Yao is not someone interested in managing the resources.
"Over the past few months, I've often reflected on Li Yao. The more I think about it, the weirder I feel. He is not indifferent to fame and fortune, at least not in the traditional sense. It's like… he is seeking something of a much higher level. The resources that normal Cultivators regard as treasures are nothing but children's toys in his eyes!
"I don't know why I have such a feeling, but it is unimportant! What matters is that, if Li Yao is not running the resources in person, somebody next to him will definitely stand up and manage the resources on his behalf as his representative!
"In your opinion, who is qualified and capable enough of being the representative for Li Yao? Yes, Jin Xinyue. She is the only candidate!
"Since she is Jin Tuyi's daughter, and now she has been promoted to Dark Lady of the Nine Heavens, she is definitely a key person in Jin Tuyi's plan. I will not underestimate her abilities.
"Imagine it. In several decades, after her personal operation, the resources that the name 'Li Yao' represents will be multiplied by dozens of times. How magnificent will she be by then?
"At that time, who will be there to check Jin Xinyue?"
Ding Lingdang's eyes froze. Her voice was both cold and tough, like the stick in a snowy world. "I finally understand why you chose me as the Sword Grabber now. It is not for any of the reasons you mentioned.
"You have been belittling Li Yao, but you are still scared of his strength after all, aren't you?
"What you want to choose is not me but 'Li Yao's wife'. In your deduction, in a few decades, in the new federation, only Li Yao's wife will be able to rival Li Yao's true disciple and ensure the human beings' position in the alliance! As for who Li Yao's wife is, it doesn't matter at all, does it?"
Lu Zui should have caught the sarcasm in Ding Lingdang's words and sensed her fury from her eyes, but he was doing such an exhausting thing that he overlooked Ding Lingdang's critical reaction.
He juxtaposed his middle finger and his index finger, sticking them to his forehead so hard as if he were stabbing them into his head.
Spiritual energy flowed between his temples. His head shook nonstop. His eyeballs collapsed, and the brilliance in his eyes gradually disappeared. He was dimmer and dimmer like coal that had burnt out.
It was like there was a big, highly-attractive swirl inside his brain that was swallowing his soul, his vigor, and his memories!
It took him ten seconds, but he seemed to be suffering in hell for ten years. When his fingers left his forehead, a spiritual seed the size of the core of a fruit was floating on his fingertip!
A spiritual seed!
The crystallization of the infinite experiences, memories, and determination of a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, which was an ultimate treasure of training that was mostly given to their blood descendants and their most excellent true disciples!
The color rays emitted from Lu Zui's spiritual seed even illuminated the surveillance room next door.
All the Secret Sword Agents in the room could not help but cry in shock.
It was a spiritual seed condensed by a high-level Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator. For Lu Zui, it was perhaps the last one that he could condense before his death. The essence of his lifelong training must have been concentrated inside!
For any admin-type Cultivator, it would be a priceless treasure!
Even for Cultivators of other types, it could still enlighten them and help them develop their brain!
Even Guo Chunfeng shuddered when the glimmer of the spiritual shield reached his face and swallowed hard.
Staring at the spiritual seed, Ding Lingdang's eyes were suddenly resolute again. She seemed to have made up her mind.
After condensing the super spiritual seed with tremendous soul power and physical energy, Lu Zui was even drier than before. He was nothing more than a walking skeleton now. His intimidating aura was gone, but he was more excited than ever. "Fellow Cultivator Ding, this is a spiritual shield that I specially prepared for you. My two hundred years of life experience have been stored inside. Although it's impossible to turn you from a battle-type Cultivator into an admin-type one, it will make up for your disadvantage as much as possible!
"Come on. Swallow the spiritual seed and be my successor, the new leader of the Patriots Partnership, and the Sword Grabber of the Star Glory Federation!"
His low and hoarse voice was mixed with irresistible charisma. Dragging the heavy chains, he floated into the air and delivered the spiritual seed to Ding Lingdang from above.
Ding Lingdang extended her right hand, allowing the spiritual seed to rotate slowly in her palm.
The rays from the spiritual seed turned into weird colors in her eyes.
"Hahahaha. Jin Tuyi!" Lu Zui could not help but burst into wild laughter. "You think that you've taken everything into consideration, and you can manipulate the future a hundred years from now!
"It has never occurred to you that I can come up with a solution in the Heaven's Origin Sector, has it?
"Do you think that you will be taking all the advantages after your daughter becomes Li Yao's true disciple? I can also make Li Yao's wife the Sword Grabber, who will compete with your daughter when the time comes!
"You want to steal the federation a century later? Not so easy. Not so—"
Lu Zui's crazy laughter came to an abrupt end, replaced by the most appalled gasp resembling that of a hen whose neck was suddenly cut open.
All the Secret Sword Agents in the room next door jumped so high that they nearly crashed into the ceiling.
"Ahhhhhh!"
Everybody pulled their hair and shrieked at the top of their voice. They eyed Ding Lingdang as if she were the craziest lunatic!
They found it hard to believe their eyes when the picture was replayed three times.
Right when Lu Zui was laughing in satisfaction, thinking that everything in his control, Ding Lingdang crushed his spiritual seed directly.
Chapter 1172: I Am Ding Lingdang! |
Dozens of streaks of colorful brilliance, like dozens of burning mice, fled in a hurry from Ding Lingdang's fingers and returned to Lu Zui's head after crashing in midair for a while. It took a long time before they were condensed again, but their aura was significantly weaker than before. Their light was dim, and they gave the feeling that they were scared.
The spiritual seed was the crystallization of a Cultivator's thoughts, will, and belief. It did not carry a real entity. Ding Lingdang's attack was not based on spiritual energy, either. Naturally, the spiritual seed was not obliterated but simply broken apart and stripped of all its charm.
Ding Lingdang demonstrated her attitude in such a way.
Her eyes were brighter and brighter. Her aura was more and more magnificent, which seemed to be condensing into a real entity. A tyrannosaur was slowly materializing behind her. Although she was merely at the peak of the Core Formation Stage, she was no longer hesitating and backing off in the confrontation with a Cultivator in the high level of the Nascent Soul Stage!
The moment she crushed Lu Zui's spiritual seed, Ding Lingdang also crashed into a brand-new world that she had not seen before!
Lu Zui was shaking in fury. He bellowed, "Fellow Cultivator Ding, you turned me down? You've turned me down? Don't you understand how many benefits the spiritual seed of a high-level Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator can bring you?"
"I do. However, I don't care about them!" Ding Lingdang snorted. "Is there anything else you want to say? If not, I'm leaving now. You can give your precious spiritual seed to whoever you want."
Without any hesitation, she walked to the door of the room in only two steps.
"Wait!" Lu Zui was greatly shocked. He hurried to call her, "Fellow Cultivator Ding, my proposal will do us both good. It is a great safety measure for the future of the federation, too. Why do you not accept it?"
Ding Lingdang was about to open the door when she heard those words. She turned around and gazed at Lu Zui for a long time with her eyes that looked like two swirls of magma. In the end, she opened her mouth. "I admit that some of your words did make sense and moved me, which enlightened me to consider the hatred issue from a new perspective. There was a moment when I almost decided to accept your spiritual seed.
"However, there are two things that I don't like. At all."
She narrowed her eyes and pointed her finger at Lu Zui. "Firstly, I don't like the feeling of being someone else's chess piece, much less the chess piece of such a shameless, sordid, inhumane old b*stard like you!
"What were you thinking? Do you think that if you pretend that you've changed today, everybody will forget the tens of thousands of innocent souls who were killed in your scheme, and you can simply walk on like a good guy?
"Damn you!
"In any case, I will not associate with scumbags like you, and I will not be your successor or your chess piece!
"However, compared to the whole being chosen by you to be your chess pieces thing, the second thing pisses me off even more.
"As it turns out, you selected me as your chess piece not because I, Ding Lingdang, am suitable, full of potential, or incredible, but only because I am likely to be Li Yao's wife?
"So, you are indicating that if Li Yao's wife is not me but some other girl, then I would not even be qualified to be a chess piece and to get my hands on the hatred sword."
Lu Zui was dumbfounded. He seemed to be caught unprepared by what troubled Ding Lingdang. After a long daze, he replied drily, "Fellow Cultivator Ding—"
"Cut the cr*p. I will not be the leader of your Patriots Partnership, and I will not be the successor of a scumbag like you. Just forget it!" Ding Lingdang declared, one word after another. Then, with a confident smile, she suddenly changed the topic. "However, the Sword Grabber is indeed an interesting theory. I'll definitely think about it."
Lu Zui was dazed again. "What do you mean?"
"Patriot is a good word, but the word has been ruined by the likes of you! How many blatant and horrific crimes has the Patriots Partnership that you founded committed? I feel like throwing up when I smell its stink! So, there is no way that I will inherit your bullsh*t organization!"
Ding Lingdang opened her hands and groped carefully in the air, as if there was really an invisible, invincible longsword in her hands. "Even if I am to be the Sword Grabber, I will not be picking up your wretched sword, which has been stained with blood! I will unite everybody who shares the same belief as mine with my hands and forge a hatred sword of our own. We will establish a real association of patriots! Let me see. I'll just call it 'Patriots Front'!
"You the scumbags have sullied the lovely name 'patriot', but we will make all the citizens of the federation remember what 'patriot' really means!
"You asked me hundreds of questions just now. This is my answer.
"Yes, I will be the Sword Grabber, and I will establish the Patriots Front. If needed, I will compete with Jin Xinyue, but I will not be doing it as Lu Zui's successor or Li Yao's wife! I am just myself. I am Ding Lingdang. I have my own path, and I will shield the hatred sword in my own way!"
