Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Behind Jiang Hailiu, a 3D light beam rose up, displaying rows of splendid buildings established in a deep valley.

Li Yao could tell that the ‘deep valley’ was in fact the underground fortress on Spider Den in the Flying Star Sector. It had been built by the Star Ocean Imperium to resist the Blood God’s rebellion army.

Right now, it had been excavated by the Cultivators of the Flying Star Sector and transformed into a large research center.

There were two facilities of the utmost important inside the underground fortress.

The first of them was the secret residence of Yan Xinjian, the vice-commander of the Flying Star Coalition Fleet hundreds of years ago.

Yan Xinjian was the best expert who had the highest chance to break into the Divinity Transformation Stage in the past thousand years in the Heaven’s Origin Sector, the Flying Star Sector, and the Blood Demon Sector. It was a shame that he had been swallowed by the abyss inside his own heart. He had betrayed everybody and degraded into the ‘supreme space pirate’ from the vice-commander of a fleet that struck space pirates. He had also excavated the underground fortress of the Star Ocean Imperium in the depths of Spider Den.

Legacies of the Star Ocean Imperium were piled up in Yan Xinjian’s residence. Years ago, Li Yao had explored the residence, too, and even trained alone inside for a thousand days. He had absorbed Yan Xinjian’s training log, which laid a solid foundation for his ‘superlative height of the Core Formation Stage’. It was also one of the reasons he could advance into the Nascent Soul Stage at such a young age.

In that sense, it would not be wrong to say that Li Yao was a disciple of Yan Xinjian, the top expert of the three Sectors in the past.

After the riot of the Immortal Cultivators was settled and Spider Den was taken over by the Cultivators, the development on the underground fortress had immediately begun. Li Yao had never intended to keep Yan Xinjian’s residence to himself.

All the items inside belonged to the Flying Star Sector after all. It was already more than enough for him to train inside for a few years. So many marvelous arts were naturally best to be shared with all the Cultivators!

Right now, the Glorious Sunlight Group, which was under Li Yao’s control, together with the traditional forces of the Flying Star Sector such as the six sects of Heavenly Saints City and the Star Fighters’ Alliance, funded a ‘Supreme Residence Development Company’ and developed Yan Xinjian’s residence. Many classics, arts, and treasures that had been buried for hundreds of years had been unearthed and could be put to use again!

Other than Yan Xinjian’s residence, the second facility, and the more important one, was the Star Prier’s House, an underground observatory established by Liu the Prier, who was one of the best astrologists and cosmologists in the Star Ocean Imperium!

“The building in the picture must be familiar to you, fellow Cultivators,” Jiang Hailiu said solemnly. “Detailed files have already been sent to your crystal processors prior to the meeting. This is the ‘Star Prier’s House’.

“In the Star Ocean Imperium ten thousand years ago, Liu the Prier’s family was one of the most famous mining magnates, best known for its almost infinite wealth!

“Spending almost all the fortunes of his family, Liu the Prier purchased dozens of the most advanced super crystal processors of the Star Ocean Imperium and established this underground observatory to study the apocalypses. Later, in the war that caused the fall of the Star Ocean Imperium, this place was modified into a surveillance station that could monitor the entire sea of stars.

“It is safe to say that the Star Prier’s House represented the peak of space surveillance in the Star Ocean Imperium!

“Even if the Imperium of True Human Beings truly inherited the relics of the Star Ocean Imperium, their observation methods will be no more advanced that those in the Star Prier’s House.

“Since the center of the universe was the main battlefield in the cruel war between the Supreme Emperor and the Blood God, the important Sectors of the Star Ocean Imperium, including the Empyrean Terminus Sector, were mostly blown to smithereens. Such large military observatories were the primary targets. It would have been very difficult for them to be preserved during the bombardment.

“On the other hand, the smaller Sectors at the edge of the universe, such as the Flying Star Sector and us, might have better chances to survive the catastrophe and keep more intact relics.

“All in all, this is an ‘eye’ that can see through the mysteries of the three thousand Sectors. Right now, the eye has fallen into our hands. If we learn all the techniques in the Star Prier’s House, in the fields of reconnaissance and exploration, we will be on par with the Imperium of True Human Beings, if not better than them!”

Jiang Hailiu truly deserved to be the Speaker of the Star Glory Federation. After only a few words, the atmosphere that had become somewhat depressed by Gui Suishou was brightened up again.

The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators whispered to each other in enlightenment.

It was quite right. As magnificent as the Imperium of True Human Beings might be, it definitely would not be as strong as the Star Ocean Imperium in the past after developing for only a thousand years.

Everything had its advantages and disadvantages. At the very least, in terms of space surveillance, with the Star Prier’s House, the federation was not necessarily worse than the Imperium.

Seeing that everybody was refreshed, Jiang Hailiu went on encouraging everybody. “Right now, the enemy is in the spotlight while we are in the darkness. We know that the expedition army of the Imperium of True Human Beings is coming. We can even monitor its march through the Star Prier’s House. But the Imperium doesn’t know the first thing about us. What they know is just a set of coordinates. They don’t even know whether or not we exist and what development phase we are in. Perhaps they think that we are still the primitive barbarians!

“Why can’t we win such a war?

“On the other hand, the super crystal processors employed in the Star Prier’s House are all state-of-the-art magical equipment from the Star Ocean Imperium. The computational chips and the deduction rune arrays have enlightened our own crystal processor experts.

“Such super crystal processors can be applied to space exploration as well as other fields. They can be used to produce stronger magical equipment, perfect Cultivation arts, or pave brand-new sailing routes in the sea of stars.

“If we completely grasp the mysteries inside the super crystal processors in the next few decades and duplicate them on a large scale, our capability will be multiplied by at least ten times when we have five hundred, a thousand, or even more of such super crystal processors!”

All the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators nodded in approval. The meeting hall was even livelier than before.

Confidence beaming out of his eyes, Jiang Hailiu extended a second finger. The 3D light beam behind him quickly changed, too.

With light and shadow replacing each other, Spider Den was no more, substituted by two Sectors in the vast universe that were melding with each other in a dazzling glow. What a magnificent and soul-stirring view it was!

“Our second advantage, which is unique and unduplicable, is the merging of the Heaven’s Origin Sector and Blood Demon Sector!

“The integration of the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector, although causing tremendous changes in both of the two worlds and nearly resulting to a world-blighting war, gives us an unexpected advantage, which is that the spiritual waves of both worlds have been significantly enhanced!

“An unprecedented, overwhelming tide of spiritual energy is now sweeping across the two worlds. It will perhaps last decades and will not die down until the two worlds are completely merged and stabilized!

“What benefits does such a tide of spiritual energy bring? The most direct one is that the training of Cultivators gets easier!

“Not only is it easier for ordinary people to awaken their spiritual roots and become Cultivators, the Cultivators’ speed of training is also greatly accelerated. It is easier for them to break into new levels now!

“I can boldly declare that, in the next hundred years, the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector will be the best ‘natural paradises’ in the universe, where the strongest Cultivators will be born!”

His words were like a stone tossed into a pond. All the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were talking to each other loudly.

However transcendental the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were, they were Cultivators after all. Training always mattered to them. Did any one of them not hope to break into a new level, stand at the peak of evolution, and explore the amazing world unvisited by their predecessors?

The so-called ‘natural paradises’ were the places with the densest spiritual energy and resources in the universe. They were mostly generated at the center of the universe.

For the Heaven’s Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector, two remote Sectors, they had not even dreamed of having such places before.

For a moment, the eyes of the hundred Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were bubbling like magma while they stared at Jiang Hailiu with great interest.

With a smile, Jiang Hailiu unhurriedly said, “Don’t think that I’m exaggerating, everybody. What has happened to Fellow Cultivator Li Yao is the first inkling for us!

“Fellow Cultivator Li Yao is only slightly more than thirty years old. Traditionally speaking, he is just a kid who has barely walked out of the cradle. It would have been enough to call him a ‘genius’ if he had advanced into the Building Foundation Stage, but he has broken into the Nascent Soul Stage miraculously!

“To advance into the Nascent Soul Stage at such a young age, of course, has a lot to do with Fellow Cultivator Li Yao’s own crazy training and persistence. However, we must take the environment into consideration, too!

“Fellow Cultivator Li Yao had a final breakthrough in the Dark Desolate Domain deep inside the Grand Desolate Plateau during the final battle with Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao. Why? Because the Dark Desolate Domain is the point of impact between the two Sectors. The integration of spiritual energy is fiercest there, and the spiritual waves triggered are the strongest!”

All the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators looked at Li Yao again. Even Li Yao was slightly dazed and could not help but scratch his nose.

He vaguely felt that Jiang Hailiu did have a point.

It was not that he underestimated himself, but it had always baffled him how he had gone all the way to the Nascent Soul Stage from an ordinary person in less than twenty years even with all his fortuitous experiences. It was almost too unbelievable!

“I have here the latest report issued by the Federal Bureau of Statistics.”

Behind Jiang Hailiu, with the universe as the background, a series of data poured down like a heavy rainfall. Thankfully, all the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were monsters with incredible computational ability. In only a few seconds, they had read all the data and were astonished.

“Compared to the previous decade, in the last decade, nationwide, twelve percent more ordinary people awakened their spiritual roots, thirteen percent more Cultivators advanced into the Building Foundation Stage from the Refinement Stage, and nine percent more Cultivators broke into the Core Formation Stage from the Building Foundation Stage. The improvement in the minor levels is obvious, too!

“What is more incredible is that the growth rate is increasing exponentially. Please look at the curve of the growth rate. It is like a steep mountain that is getting ever steeper!

“Ten years ago, the growth race was not very obvious yet, but as the integration of the two Sectors deepened and the Dark Desolate Domain expanded, an invisible swirl of spiritual energy seemed to have enveloped the entire Heaven’s Origin Sector, resulting in the continuous rise of the growth rate, which will likely become higher in the decades to come!

“Statistically speaking, it means that it will be easier and easier for ordinary people to be awakened, and Cultivators will be advancing faster and faster and breaking their limits ever easier! Fellow Cultivator Li Yao is the best example of the Cultivators who have benefited from the change!”