by <unknown>
"Do you really think that I'm such a demon? Whatever happens, I will not destroy the Empyreal Terminus Sector!"
Li Yao bellowed in rage, "This is not just the capital of the Imperium of True Human Beings, but also the most prosperous Sector of mankind, a vital crossroad of the universe, and our precious home and wealth. I will never destroy the Empyreal Terminus Sector crazily like you would!"
"Your fury, just like your overly-passionate speech, is only a cover for the weakness and panic in your heart."
Wuying Qi 3.0 grabbed a mouthful of ash again, which turned into a gray flower. He blew at the flower, and the flower wobbled away, glimmering. He stared at the dance of the flower and smiled. "Maybe you won't, but you have to convince all the Immortal Cultivators that you will. If it makes you feel more comfortable, you may consider the whole thing to be a strategic deception, and to start this strategic deception, you have to become the master of the Gold Crystal Pyramid first.
"Also, there's one other thing that's quite ironic. Do you know what it is?
"Do you remember the standard for the alliance of the Pangu civilizations to accept new members? To boast the ability to destroy themselves, which is the sign of a real civilization.
"However, none of the self-destroying abilities of the thirteen carbon-based lives that made up the alliance were invented by 'demons'. The terrifying abilities to tear apart a planet, change the magnetic field, or even control a star were all the inventions of sages, geniuses, and peace-lovers, who created the abilities that were enough to destroy their civilization for the purpose of defending their civilizations, their homes, and their families against evil enemies or even ending wars for good.
"To protect their civilizations, intelligent lives created the abilities that could destroy their civilizations. It sounds ironic, but it was and will always be true.
"So, if one day you lose control and turn from a dragon-slayer into a demon in the Gold Crystal Pyramid, don't go too hard on yourself. You won't be the first, and you certainly won't be the last."
Stunned, Li Yao listened quietly and wiped the ash that had dropped to his face.
The ash melted in his palm like dirty snowflakes and leaked into his body.
"Rest assured, the ash is nothing but an illusion. It does not contain the slightest mental power."
Wuying Qi 3.0 smiled and said, "For people like you, mental corruption is useless and will only raise your wariness. Besides, I'm already too weakened to have another mental competition with you. I can only expect that you will realize your unique destiny eventually, and I have no doubt that you will."
Chapter 2657: The Dragon Slayer |
"I-I won't!"
Li Yao tried to shake off the ash on him, but since they were right above the creator, the ash was dancing like snowflakes and could not be removed at all. "I won't do it whatever you say. There has to be a better choice and a more perfect solution!"
"Is there really such a thing as a perfect solution? I've been searching for it in my whole life, but I found nothing."
Wuying Qi 3.0 sighed with pity in his eyes. "Even if you want to destroy the Gold Crystal Pyramid, how exactly are you going to do it? Arsonist and Blackhole's Heart have been too seriously damaged to launch another destructive attack. Long Yangjun's Heavenly Crystal is on the verge of collapse too.
"This Gold Crystal Pyramid was one of the final trump cards of the Houyi Clan. The Pangu Clan's possible assault and sabotage were taken into consideration when it was designed, so it's extra solid. Just now, our Colossi had a long and fierce battle, but was the Gold Crystal Pyramid affected at all?
"So, if a fierce battle of three Colossi failed to destroy it, how are you planning to demolish it without a Colossus? The best you can do is to sabotage some components or tamper with the data, but such damage can be easily repaired.
"If you are too concerned to shoulder your responsibility, the Gold Crystal Pyramid will likely fall into someone else's hand—probably Lei Chenghu's.
"This is the capital where millions of Immortal Cultivators are gathered anyway, and it's impossible for a few Cultivators to occupy this place for long. Eventually, you need Lei Chenghu to clean up the mess, and most Immortal Cultivators will pledge loyalty to him.
"Think about it. As 'the last Immortal Cultivator of the Imperium', would Lei Chenghu destroy the Gold Crystal Pyramid, or would he want to be the new master of the Gold Crystal Pyramid?
"Things would be the same even if it isn't Lei Chenghu but Li Linghai, Jin Yuyan, or any other Immortal Cultivators. None of them can resist such a temptation, especially after witnessing how it destroyed the ace fleets of the four families easily. All the Immortal Cultivators will fight bloody battles to gain control over the Gold Crystal Pyramid, craving to be its master!
"Tell me, Li Yao, do you want Lei Chenghu, or Li Linghai, or any other Immortal Cultivators whom you do not know at all, to be the Gold Crystal Pyramid's master? Do you wish to transfer the power of destruction to anyone else?
"Very well, your eyes are telling me your answer. If you do not want the Gold Crystal Pyramid to be controlled by an Immortal Cultivator, the only thing you can do is to seize the opportunity while the capital planet is still in chaos to absorb my heritage with the Book of Revelation and inject your gene information and soul mark to the Gold Crystal Pyramid so that you will be its new master!
"Only by doing so will you intimidate all the ambitious Immortal Cultivators, prevent the Gold Crystal Pyramid from being controlled by malicious guys, and ensure everlasting peace in the Empyreal Terminus Sector."
Li Yao stepped back quickly with a pale face, shivering.
"It's fine. Just show your doubt and hesitation. It's really fine. I'm not mocking you or retaliating against you. I'm just talking to a new-generation dragon slayer as a senior dragon slayer about the past and about how we turn into dragons in the end ourselves."
Wuying Qi 3.0 floated forth and grabbed Li Yao's shoulder sympathetically. "Slaying the dragon is not the end of an adventure but the beginning of a long journey. However, you never really know it until scales, claws, and tusks are growing in you.
"Did you know that I was a confident dragon slayer just like you a thousand years ago? I once slew infinite dragons and demons, who were all inhumane and unforgivable like Wuying Qi 2.0.
"I killed infinite corrupt officials and generals of the Star Ocean Republic, who did all kinds of bad things though they looked like Cultivators. Trust me, they weren't any better than Wuying Qi 2.0 when they tried to preserve their lives and their properties toward the end of the Star Ocean Republic.
"I once led an army back to the Martial Meritocrats Sector, my hometown, and attacked the neighboring Sand Primitive Sector, partly for revenge and partly to eliminate the evil Chiyou Cult. When the Chiyou Cult was destroyed, its believers and priests summoned a monster named Chiyou. I hunted it for half a year in space before I executed all of its 72 incarnations!
"I even eradicated the remains of the Mad Armageddon so that the great devil ten thousand years ago could not cause trouble to our world anymore.
"Every time, every time I killed those villains and stopped them from destroying the world, I thought it was the end of the game and I was the final victor. After the final battle against the Mad Armageddon, my ecstasy was beyond description. I embraced an eternal victory. No insane villains can ever harm my world or my civilization anymore.
"However… Hehe… In the end…
"That's why I said that you're not the first. It's not humiliating, really. Embrace your destiny with courage, face the scales and claws that are growing under your skin, and wait for the next dragon slayer to kill you and pass on your destiny. This is not humiliating."
Wuying Qi 3.0 was silent for a long time as he stared at his younger self who was falling into the magma in the crater.
Li Yao, on the other hand, looked at his hands and arms.
The butterflies of ash drifted to his hands and his arms and melted into them. In
a trance, he really felt that he had grown a vague, barely-visible layer of gray scales.
"Now, young dragon slayer, are you ready to listen to the lifelong story of this vicious dragon?" Wuying Qi 3.0 finally opened his mouth and asked casually.
He did not force Li Yao to listen, as if he would really bring everything, including the secrets of the Gold Crystal Pyramid, to the other world if Li Yao didn't want to listen to it.
But of course, it remained unknown whether or not he had left a copy of the ways to control the Gold Crystal Pyramid elsewhere.
"Just… speak," said Li Yao, struggling.
He felt that not just his skin, but his heart was also growing small and thick scales.
Wuying Qi 3.0 smiled and did not question Li Yao's self-doubt, as if he were really just recalling his past before his death.
"Where should I start? You know the absurdities I did in the Martial Meritocrats Sector, do you?"
Wuying Qi 3.0 said, "You must know that although the propaganda is exaggerated, it's not entirely false. The ordinary people of the Martial Meritocrats Sector were truly ignorant, shameless, and merciless."
"That was because your methodology was fundamentally wrong!"
Li Yao couldn't help but argue, "You had been spoiling the ordinary people like they were ignorant kids since the beginning, and you never taught them anything. Getting to the bottom of it, you do not believe that ordinary people can contribute to civilization at all!
"After hundreds of years of spoiling, the ordinary people of the Martial Meritocrats Sector naturally became mischievous and uncontrollable. Isn't it only natural that they ruined the civilization?
"In the Star Glory Federation, our path, which has been modified countless times and will be modified countless times more, is different. We won't repeat your mistake!"
"Fantastic!"
Wuying Qi 3.0 smiled. "Isn't it all the more reason why you should claim the Gold Crystal Pyramid, disseminate the new methodology of the Cultivators to the whole universe, and awaken more people? Chances are that you can be the savior of the universe!"
Li Yao was rendered speechless. He decided to stop fighting with this guy since this guy was about to die.
"Let's start from the moment I was tossed into the crater."
Wuying Qi 3.0 did not mock Li Yao any further but continued his story.
The frozen palace of memories began to move again as he narrated. The young man in midair fell into the magma. Surrounded by a thin spiritual shield, he floated and floundered desperately in the magma. The spiritual shield soon melted, and the magma burned his body mercilessly.
"There's something that I've never told anyone."
Recalling his struggle in the magma, Wuying Qi 3.0 seemed to be still in pain. "It's true that I found a secret base in the volcano and escaped the Martial Meritocrats Sector with a shuttle inside. However, I did not discover the Mad Armageddon's heritage by luck later. It was destined.
"As a matter of fact, the secret base hidden in the volcano in the Martial Meritocrats Sector was part of the Blood God's plan ten thousand years ago when he rebelled."
Chapter 2658: The Blood God's Mission! |
Deep inside the volcano, a gate blocked by magma was slowly opened, revealing a base that had been sealed for ten thousand years. Mechanical robots surfaced in the magma, hauling young Wuying Qi's incomplete body into the base, where they implanted tremendous artificial organs into his body and covered him with pieces of black armor.
The whole base was utterly silent, and the mechanical skeletons moved rigidly like fully-wound puppets.
"This is actually an enlisting base of the 'Human Expedition Army'. Even the weakest man can be modified into a well-trained warrior very quickly after they're sent into this place. If they're strong in the first place, they would be much stronger after the modifications."
Wuying Qi 3.0 explained, "The so-called 'Human Expedition Army' was a name that the Blood God gave his army. In the magnificent war ten thousand years ago, the Blood God's rebelling army and the army that was loyal to the Supreme Emperor fought in space and on every planet. They even thought that the war would linger on for thousands of years and that even if they died, their ideologies would be passed on and continue the fight.
"That was why this enlisting base was established. The Blood God thought that even if the Star Ocean Imperium and his Human Expedition Army were gone thousands of years later, anyone who discovered the enlisting base would be able to absorb his legacy and become a new-general warrior for the Human Expedition Army.
"So, a lot of automatic and half-permanent designs were adopted in this base. There were also plenty of mission modules. As long as one warrior was created, they could carry out the missions step by step and wake up more enlisting bases to raise more warriors so that the Human Expedition Army could be reestablished."
Li Yao nodded his head, deep in thought. The Blood God's idea was similar to Professor Mo Xuan's Tinder Plan and the Blood Stripe Virus' civilizational possession.
The war between the Blood God and the Supreme Emperor was not limited to one era but lingered on to infinity.
Even though they died thousands of years ago, as long as the Blood God's enlisting base raised new warriors for the expedition army again, the Blood God would be the final victor.
"I was quite lucky. This enlisting base was powered by the heat of the magma, so it was still as new as ever despite the passage of time. The puppet tutors inside were undamaged too."
Wuying Qi 3.0 said, "Also, nobody in the past ten thousand years had approached this enlisting base before me, so I was given a high permission and promoted as a colonel of the Human Expedition Army.
"The puppet tutors treated my wounds and trained me in the ways that the Blood God left behind. The fifty puppet tutors were supposed to teach ten thousand soldiers, but they only had me. They left quite a deep impression on me."
Behind Wuying Qi 3.0, young Wuying Qi, who had been utterly reshaped by black organs and armor, started his inhumane training under the supervision and torture of the fifty iron puppets.
Even Li Yao, who was known as a training maniac, felt that he was sweating after seeing how Wuying Qi trained himself years ago.
"I spent three years deep inside the volcano. Three unforgettable years!"
Wuying Qi 3.0 said coldly, "Three years later, I was completely reborn, and I was no longer a rookie.
"Naturally, I planned to seek revenge. But on one hand, I was alone, and it was impossible for me to fight two Sectors even though I was an elite warrior of the Human Expedition Army; on the other hand, I received a new mission.
"Having no other choices, I had to fly a small shuttle into space away from my home together with those iron skulls!"
The picture in the memory palace changed. The volcano, the enlisting base, and the Martial Meritocrats Sector were gone, replaced by the boundless cosmos. Wuying Qi 3.0 and Li Yao floated in the darkness as glimmers.
A shuttle slowly passed them and left a long helical trace behind them.
"I thought that I was carrying out a regular mission—to search for other enlisting bases, activate them, recruit more soldiers, and reestablish the Human Expedition Army, like I'd been trained countless times before."
Wuying Qi 3.0's voice was shivering, as the scene had left too deep an impression on him. "However, my mission turned out to be much more advanced. When I was woken up after a hundred years of hibernation, I found myself right before the remains of a gargantuan starship. It was Doom, the Blood God's flagship!"
Before Wuying Qi 3.0 and Li Yao, a decrepit starship slowly surfaced in the darkness.
It was more like a space fortress in the shape of a human head than a starship, except that it was mottled and riddled with holes, making it look like the skull of a screaming skeleton.
Even though it was a memory from thousands of years ago and even though they were in space, Li Yao could still hear the howling of the skeleton.
There was no t
elling how huge the space fortress was because of the lack of references, but Wuying Qi's shuttle was as insignificant as dust compared to it.
Walking in Wuying Qi's shoes, Li Yao imagined that he accidentally became a warrior of the Human Expedition Army when he thought he was going to die, before he crossed the cosmos to visit the commander of the Human Expedition Army… It was truly suffocating.
Guided by Wuying Qi 3.0, Li Yao slowly entered the space fortress through a hole that looked like the eye socket following young Wuying Qi.
This space fortress was utterly empty like a rotten head. The shuttle drifted in the darkness for a long time before it reached a vast palace. There was nothing on the obsidian floor except for a gigantic pool of blood.
The creepy thing was that, though the place had no heat, pressure, or air and was the same as the vacuum outside, and it had been thousands of years since the destruction of Doom, the freshest blood was still rolling in the pool!
The terrifying picture attracted young Wuying Qi and Li Yao, who did not think to flee even when the blood darted out from the pool and condensed into a threatening shadow.
"This is the remains of the Mad Armageddon."
Wuying Qi 3.0 said, "Rumor has it that the Supreme Emperor and the Blood God, his strongest clone, had a brutal fight on the capital planet ten thousand years ago. They were both heavily wounded. As a result, the Supreme Emperor had to sleep on the Gold Throne where time was almost frozen, and the Blood God fled into space and went missing.
"Actually, as the Supreme Emperor's clone, the Blood God was not as strong as the Supreme Emperor. He was more heavily wounded than the Supreme Emperor was. Not only was his body reduced to blood, but his soul was also sealed in it and could not escape. He only recovered slightly after thousands of years of training, so that he could send an instruction to the enlisting bases all over the universe, asking the new-generation warriors of the expedition army to meet their commander here.
"When I entered the enlisting base, it was the time that the Blood God woke up, so I was the only warrior that received the instruction and reported in."
