by <unknown>
Although he did not know what exactly the 'Vulture Plan' meant, the two words refreshed his soul and made him realize that this was a world of illusions.
"False. Everything is false. This is not the real world but the maze of my mind!
"My soul was attacked by the star child's soul and has been trapped in this chaotic maze!
"Break now!" Li Yao bellowed.
He waved his right hand hard. The thousands of garbage mountains nearby all rose up into the midair, manipulated by a weird strength, before they exploded like thousands of bombs!
Pieces like shooting stars riddled the gray sky of this world with holes, revealing the obscure brightness beyond the dome.
The entire world was shaking. The sky was breaking and falling like glass. The earth was collapsing, and black smoke was running out. All the people turned into bloody brightness and vanished into thin air!
When the sky entire collapsed, Li Yao turned into a streak of golden brightness and soared up, breaking out of the cocoon!
Hum! Hum! Hum! Hum!
As if a giant, golden bell in the depths of his brain had been tolled, Li Yao felt like he had crossed a very, very long ivory pathway and then fallen into a bottomless abyss. In the end, after a while of uncontrollable shivering, his soul returned to his brain and gained control over his body again!
"This is—"
Li Yao found himself soaked in a pool of warm medication drugs. Many doctors in white robes were observing him with great interest.
Behind the crowd, Wu Mayan and Xie Anan were standing on their tiptoes and looking at him in anxiety.
Li Yao smiled. A lot of bubbles popped up in the medication drugs. With a telepathic thought, he sent a message to Wu Mayan and Xie Anan.
"I'm back!"
…
An hour later, after a series of body examinations, Li Yao chatted with his two disciples while he warmed himself up in the rehabilitation room.
"Master, that was really incredible of you. I thought that you were awesome enough to beat Yan Xibei and Xiao Xuance. I didn't know that you'd slain a deadly demon that was unparalleled forty thousand years ago when you were only in the Building Foundation Stage!"
Wu Mayan grimaced and shouted in an exaggerated tone. "You are definitely the legend of legends!"
Li Yao chuckled, somewhat blushing.
When he released his memory pieces in the star brain, he had seen the day coming.
Right now, although the star child and Xiao Xuance had both been eliminated, the shadow of the Imperium of True Human Beings still loomed over all the Cultivators' heads. A full cooperation between the Flying Star Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector was necessary. Naturally, all information would be released to public. There was no need for him to conceal his identity right now.
"You've been in a coma for an entire year. In the past three days, your brainwaves have been more intense than ever before. Everybody said that you would wake up soon, but the big shots like Mo Xuan, Si Koulie, and Luo Xingzi are discussing an important affair in Spider Den and cannot come to greet you. Therefore, they asked me to wait for you here.
"They also told me to take you to Spider Den as soon as you woke up so that you would be able to discuss the matter that concerns the fate of both the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector!"
Li Yao was refreshed. A matter that concerned the fate of the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector?
Needless to say, they must have ascertained the coordinates of the Heaven's Origin Sector, and communication between the two Sectors was underway!
Pondering for a moment, Li Yao said, "There's no need to hurry. I've been sleeping for an entire year. Tell me what happened in the Flying Star Sector over the past year first."
Wu Mayan nodded and triggered the light beam of his crystal processor.
Professor Mo Xuan and the rest of them had predicted that Li Yao would wake up soon. Therefore, they prepared a telepathic thought that contained tremendous information and poured it into Li Yao's brain, allowing him to roughly learn the changes in the Flying Star Sector over the past year.
…
The Cultivators had regained control of most of the space zones, but the Immortal Cultivators and the space pirates had still fought in the Spider Den Space Zone.
The Cultivators investigated and removed all the spies of the 'Imperium of True Human Beings' and the 'Temple of Immortals' in three months. Then, their army marched toward the Spider Den Space Zone.
The final battle was smoother than anybody had expected.
Without Xiao Xuance and the star brain, the remaining Immortal Cultivators lost their leaders and were completely disorganized.
At the last moment, the Black King and Fengyu Zhong had a huge conflict, too.
The most crucial factor was that the Immortal Cultivators had been fooled by the star child and thought that they were the establishers of a new imperium. It was such a belief that had motivated them to fight against the Cultivators.
After they learned that they were nothing more than chess pieces, the beliefs of many Immortal Cultivators were seriously shaken.
Before the Cultivators reached Spider Den, serious internal strife had already broken out between the Immortal Cultivators and the space pirates.
As a result, the Cultivators took over Spider Den in less than a month. The Black King died in battle, and Fengyu Zhong was captured alive. The latter was then sentenced to death and executed immediately by the war court consisting of all the victims.
The insurrection that greatly damaged the Flying Star Sector seriously changed its social structure, too.
Because spies of the Immortal Cultivators might have been lurking in the six sects of Heavenly Saints City and the other important sects, a temporary committee was established when the battle of Heavenly Saints City was over, which was led by Si Koulie, Luo Xingzi, and Mo Xuan, who was representatives of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, the middle and small sects, and Iron Plateau respectively.
Of course, Mo Xuan had another identity. When Li Yao was in a coma, he was also a representative of the Cultivators from the Heaven's Origin Sector.
The temporary committee became the de facto top decision-makers of the Flying Star Sector.
Their job was to hunt all the escaping Immortal Cultivator and restore order to the Flying Star Sector. They were also responsible for collecting all the intelligence regarding the Imperium of True Human Beings.
After defeating the star brain, the five star spirits had read a lot of valuable information from the data left by the star child, including some of the techniques from the Imperium of True Human Beings.
Whenever the secret bases of the Immortal Cultivators were occupied, a lot of techniques and magical equipment that belonged to neither the Flying Star Sector nor the Heaven's Origin Sector were discovered, too. It was estimated that they were built in secret by the Immortal Cultivators under the star child's instructions for the preparation of the future government.
The techniques and magical equipment were very beneficial for the improvement of the Cultivation level of the Flying Star Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector. They were invaluable.
By further analyzing the remaining data left by the star child, the Cultivators retrieved a lot of information about the social form of the Imperium of True Human Beings and the life of ordinary people in it.
Some of them were sent for mining on resource planets with harsh environments, some were test subjects for the latest Cultivation arts of the Immortal Cultivators, and some were the slaves of the warriors. The devastating scenes shocked all the Cultivators. The entire Flying Star Sector was infuriated by the findings.
"The Flying Star Sector will not accept such a future. We will not be part of the Imperium of True Human Beings even if we are destroyed!"
"Fight against the Immortal Cultivator until the end!"
When the files were publicized, such notions became the common understanding throughout society.
The communication between the Flying Star Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector, which Li Yao was most concerned about, had made significant progress, too.
After Spider Den was recovered, the Cultivators excavated the underground fortress. With the guidance of Lei Dalu and Bai Kaixin, they soon found the 'Star Prier's House', the ancient observatory.
The capability of the five star spirits had soared after they consumed part of the computational ability of the star child. They repaired the super crystal processors in the Star Prier's House and explored the universe with the devices immediately.
Before Wu Mayan returned to Heavenly Saints City, the latest news had been that there were already important discoveries.
On the six sects of Heavenly Saints City and the Star Fighters' Alliance's side, a coalition fleet of an enormous scale was being established, too. Many of the starships were going through special modifications for super-long space jumps across Sectors.
All the preparations were underway!
Li Yao saw the current appearance of Heavenly Saints City in the pictures.
The central area and the first space ring had suffered the most damage in the great insurrection. A lot of buildings had collapsed, and quite a few blocks were entirely wiped out.
However, above the debris, a splendid new city was rising to the sky with the joint effort of the Cultivators and the ordinary people!
Li Yao saw that everybody looked different from before, although he could not tell exactly what the differences were. He just felt that everybody was motivated and in high spirits. There were sparks in the eyes of the plainest construction workers!
"The insurrection has changed the Flying Star Sector," Wu Mayan said solemnly. "Unpardonable as Xiao Xuance might have been, he was right about one thing. The Flying Star Sector in the past was loose sand. Most of the sects only wanted to live their own comfortable lives with their doors shut. They had lost the courage to strive forward and explore the outside world!
"But right now, with a great enemy looming ahead of us, everything has changed. After five thousand years, the Flying Star Sector is united once again!"
Chapter 816: Portent of the Imperium |
Li Yao had woken up!
The news spread to every corner of the Flying Star Sector. The entire world was ignited. Everybody was overjoyed.
Apart from reversing the situation purely on his own and rescuing the Flying Star Sector at the most perilous moment, the fact that he had slain Xiao Xuance, who was known to be the best expert of the Flying Star Sector, alone was enough to make Li Yao a superstar admired by countless people!
Right now, the gloom of war had not dispersed yet, and the Imperium of True Human Beings might be coming back at any time. The waking of a super expert was a major boost for the morale of the Flying Star Sector.
The financial markets were the first to respond. For a moment, all the stock prices were rising.
The news industry was the second the respond. The hospital that Li Yao was in was quickly surrounded by hundreds of reporters.
"The hero who saved the Flying Star Sector has finally woken up!"
"The Glorious Sunlight Group under his name has become a super organization on par with the six sects of Heavenly Saints City and the Star Fighters' Alliance!"
"It is estimated that the Glorious Sunlight Group will be the most important bridge in the communication between the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector. Its capability will only rise higher!"
"Li Yao, as the biggest shareholder of the conglomerate, might not be the strongest Cultivator in the Flying Star Sector, but he is definitely the wealthiest one!"
To pacify the people and to boost the morale, Li Yao accepted the interview of two influential media groups even though he was in a hurry. Then, he left for Spider Den on a crystal warship.
…
One day later, in the sky of Capital Nest on Spider Den, the cabin door of a crystal warship was slowly opened, revealing three blinking shuttles, which flew to the center of the city in a triangle formation.
Looking down at Spider Den, which had been reborn, Li Yao had complicated feelings.
The abandoned resource plant had been revived after it returned to the embrace of the Cultivators and ordinary people.
On the horizon, countless giant ivory pillars stood tall. They pierced into the clouds and formed ivory umbrellas in the sky, with mysterious mist spreading on the edge.
They also looked like enormous mushrooms that were spurting spores to various directions.
They were the super-large atmosphere-stabilizing rune arrays.
Through the rune arrays, a steady man-made atmosphere would be created. Then, the environment of the planet would be gradually reformed. In the end, Spider Den would be suitable for living again and could potentially accommodate billions of people.
The air on the ground had not been cleaned yet and was still corrupted by venomous gas. The workers were all wearing engineering crystal suits, working hard to transform the planet bit by bit.
Wu Mayan told Li Yao that, after Spider Den was taken back, the temporary committee had ruled that half of the resources on Spider Den would be used to compensate the families of all the victims of the space pirates and the Immortal Cultivators over the years.
As long as they had evidence, they would be granted with the exploitation right of certain resources on Spider Den.
In such a case, building Spider Den meant building their own home. All the forces were devoted to the transformation of Spider Den. Many people even moved their entire family to Spider Den and considered it a new beginning.
"Right now, Spider Den and Iron Plateau are both going through large-scale modifications. Although the two planets are both congenitally deficient and much less habitable than the planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector, they are still much better than the narrow starships and the unstable world fragments," Wu Mayan said confidently.
"The two habitable planets will be two enormous war bases. In less than a hundred years, the population of the Flying Star Sector will definitely be multiplied. When the population is larger, the number of Cultivators will grow, too. Our war potential will significantly increase!
"If the Imperium of True Human Beings really dares to come, they will pay a good price!"
Li Yao smiled. After six years, Wu Mayan had indeed grown a lot. He was no longer the boy he used to be!
The shuttle sped up to the depths of Capital Nest
…
Three hours later, they reached the Star Prier's House in the underground fortress.
The ancient observatory was glowing with glamorous colors after several months of serious maintenance.
Flying Star University and Heavenly Saints Institute had both established offices there. The best astronomers and astrologists of the Flying Star Sector had gathered in this place, too.
The five star spirits considered the Star Prier's House their new base, too.
The reason was simple. The hundreds of super crystal processors passed on from the Star Ocean Imperium were invaluable meals for the star spirits, who feasted upon computational ability. What else would they want to do before all the super crystal processors were cracked?
"Li Yao!"
Seeing Li Yao, Professor Mo Xuan gave him a bearhug in the artificial body.
"Li Yao!"
Luo Xingzi and Si Koulie were quite excited, too.
Although they were from two different Sectors, they had the same title—Cultivators. In the battle of Heavenly Saints City, they had been through life and death together. In the battles to come, they would also fight side by side!
Other than Luo Xingzi, Si Koulie, Mo Xuan, and a few leaders of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, there was an unexpected person who made Li Yao overjoyed.
"Chief Xiong!"
Xiong Wuji, the previous best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, greeted him.
"Good lad, you've finally woken up!"
Xiong Wuj
i patted Li Yao's shoulder with a smile and said, "Ever since you passed the test of the Truth Cabinet, I'd been wondering how you did it. I didn't know that the answer was so simple. You are of course not a space resident. You are a resident of the Heaven's Origin Sector. Hahahaha!"
Li Yao blushed, somewhat embarrassed.
It was not decent of him to have kept it a secret for such a long time, but after all those years, and with the great enemy named the Imperium of True Human Beings drawing near, the little misunderstand years ago were not worth mentioning.
"It appears that you have indeed made important discoveries!"
Li Yao was so anxious that he quickly asked for the progress after the small talk.
Xiong Wuji had suffered heavy wounds in the battle against Yan Xibei and had not recovered much in the past five years. However, he enjoyed unparalleled prestige in the six tribes of Iron Plateau, and he was the soul of Iron Plateau.
Now that he had arrived, it was evident that the meeting was of paramount importance.
Li Yao thought of something and asked excitedly, "Have you located the precise coordinates of the Heaven's Origin Sector? Are we able to return to the Heaven's Origin Sector now?"
The room was caught in a weird vibe after his words. Everybody looked at each other in silence.
Professor Mo Xuan patted his shoulder and explained, "Li Yao, don't be hasty. We have indeed located the coordinates of the Heaven's Origin Sector, but… it is rather complicated."
"Complicated?"
Li Yao was dazed. He could tell that Professor Mo Xuan was not delighted but worried about the situation.
Professor Mo Xuan coughed and said, "It's a long story. Let me explain it to you slowly. First thing's first. Here are the discoveries we made in the past half year."
Professor Mo Xuan waved his hands. The room was gradually dimmed, but the arced dome was shining and packed with dense stars again.
"Firstly, we evaluated the Imperium of True Human Beings by the information left by the star child and the observation of the prosperous areas of the Star Ocean Imperium through the Star Prier's House.
"The Imperium of True Human Beings does exist, and its comprehensive ability is very high!
