Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Jin Xinyue’s eyes were like two deep swirls, and she was looking at Li Yao earnestly as if she was hoping that Li Yao could drag her out of the confusion. “Therefore, after hearing my father’s analysis, I began to question myself and doubted whether or not I was doing the right thing.

“If it is impossible for the Star Glory Federation to put let go of the grudge or the country is determined to conquer all the demons bolstered by the war bonds, victory funds, and other interest groups, why should I stop my father?

“Perhaps, it will be best to just let the Red Tide Plan run its course?

“This is my confusion right now. Please do enlighten me, Master!”

Li Yao frowned. “What if I can’t enlighten you?”

Jin Xinyue hesitated for a moment. “Over the past couple of months after transforming into a human being, I’ve been learning to be a Cultivator.

“What matters most for a Cultivator is ‘belief’. I’ve been looking for my ‘belief’ all the time, but I haven’t found a clear answer yet.

“However, although I do not know what my ‘belief’ is, I know very clearly what my ‘belief’ isn’t!

“If I follow Master recklessly without figuring out what I am fighting for right now, I am certain that it is not the way guided by my ‘belief’!

“Therefore, if you really cannon enlighten me, I’m afraid that I will not be able to stand on your side wholeheartedly.

“Even if I follow you, it is very likely that I will become mentally deranged soon.”

Li Yao’s eyes turned deep and dark. “Are you suggesting that you will switch to your father’s side if I can’t give you a satisfactory reply?”

Cold sweat popped out of Jin Xinyue’s forehead. She stammered, “I—I don’t know. I truly don’t.”

Li Yao narrowed his eyes, his demonic energy spreading out. “Will you have nothing to regret even if you make me your enemy?”

His demonic energy made the bloody moon shiver unpredictably. Jin Xinyue was trembling as if she had been caught by an invisible storm. Her cold sweat froze into icy pearls.

Panting hard, she smiled bitterly. “Master, you—you asked me to learn how to be a real Cultivator. I studied the ‘Constitution of Cultivators’ for a long time, only to discover that it seemed necessary to taste the feeling of ‘nothing to regret’ for what you believe in if you want to be a real Cultivator.”

Li Yao’s expression became even gloomier, and his demonic energy was even more intense.

Suppressed by the demonic energy, Jin Xinyue was not able to utter a single syllable anymore. She managed to summon part of her spiritual energy to resist, but she was still shuddering from head to toe.

In the weird scene, it was hard to tell which one of them was the human being and which one was the demon.

A moment later, Li Yao suddenly retracted his demonic energy, and his face was warm and sunny again in the blink of an eye. He scratched his hair and smiled. “Your father did have a point. I thought for a long time and couldn’t find any refutation.”

Jin Xinyue breathed hard with swear pouring out. It was not until then that she realized that her master was merely testing whether or not her belief was firm enough.

Calming herself down, she asked, “So, you also acknowledge the possibility that the Star Glory Federation will fake peace for now, only to assault and conquer the Blood Demon Sector in a few years?”

Li Yao sighed and replied dutifully, “Of course, that’s a possibility.

“Although I am a Cultivator of the Heaven’s Origin Sector born in the Star Glory Federation, I do not want to lie and say that the federation is a perfect country and all the Cultivators are saints of integrity who honor their word.

“I grew up in a magical equipment graveyard, and I struggled up from the bottom level of the federation. I know the dark side of the federation a hundred times more clearly than your father does!

“Both before I became a Cultivator and after, I have met a lot of fellows who didn’t deserve to be called Cultivators. But still, they, as well as their family behind them, were still rising up in the federation, being promoted to important posts and even grasping the lifelines of the federation.”

Li Yao thought that the descendant of the Jiang family whom he had encountered on the training heading north to the Grand Desolate War Institution, the dastardly Cultivator who defected upon being faced with the beast tide and regarded ordinary people as ants.

Other than the guy, there must have been a lot of other Cultivators on the train.

But eventually, only seven of them were willing to stand out.

Nationwide, how many similar Cultivators were out there?

Cowardice and brutality were the two sides of the same coin. Cultivators who considered ordinary people as weeds would certainly not consider the lives of ordinary soldiers and the low-level demons to be a big deal. If they found enough benefits after careful calculation, they would certainly not hesitate to break the feeblest peace under the fanciest slogan!

Therefore, Li Yao really had nothing to say when Jin Tuyi tossed the dreadful future at him.

“However, we can still look at the whole issue from a different point of view.” Li Yao grinned. “Your father has his great reasons, and I have my minor reasons. Do you want to hear them?”

“Minor reasons?” Jin Xinyue chewed on the words and sat down solemnly. “Please do enlighten me, Master.”

“In terms of the great reasons, the big picture, and the vast changes, I am definitely no match for your father.” Li Yao waved his arms and pushed them forward, as if he were pushing Jin Tuyi’s theories aside. “However, let’s forget what your father said for now and make an assumption.

“Assume that we do nothing right now and simply have a nice, long nap here, what will happen over the next year and a half?”

Jin Xinyue pondered for a moment and quickly replied, “The Red Tide Plan will be implemented smoothly. The elite troops of the coalition army of demons will assault the capital city of the federation and fight hard with the experts of the Heaven’s Origin Sector.

“Then, Elder Nether Spring’s lurking spores will be activated and corrupt everybody within the range of the capital city, be they human beings or demons, into ‘uncontrollably mutants’ or his slaves. He will seize control over the two worlds in such a way!

“Regardless of whether Elder Nether Spring achieves his ambition or not, his ‘virus troops’ will certainly cause great casualties to the remaining forces of the two worlds. Both Sectors will be burnt to the ground, and there will be no way to resist the upcoming minor apocalypse.

“It is very likely that, after failing to resist the minor apocalypse, our capability will plunge, and our civilization will retrograde by hundreds of years. Then, after catching our breath for a hundred years or two, the expedition army of the Imperium of True Human Beings will conquer, if not destroy, us both!”

“Exactly.” Li Yao nodded in great satisfaction. “This is the worst outcome, right?

“The Heaven’s Origin Sector, the Flying Star Sector, and the Blood Demon Sector will likely to be blown to smithereens in the next hundred years. There won’t be a more terrible ending for us, will there?”

Jin Xinyue tilted her head and thought for a moment before she nodded and said, “Yes. This is definitely the worst ending. There cannot be a more terrible one.”

Three worlds were going to be destroyed. What would a more terrible outcome be like?

Even if they were not destroyed, it was not hard for Jin Xinyue to imagine the social position of the demon race in the Imperium of True Human Beings.

After all, it was Imperium of True ‘Human Beings’, not Imperium of True ‘Demons’. Would the foreigners such as themselves be given any rights?

Li Yao opened his hands and said, “There you have it!

“You have confirmed that, if we do nothing and change nothing, everything will slip to the worst ending slowly but surely.

“Then, is it really important whether we are doing the right thing or not?

“Your father was quite right. I do not have any evidence to prove that the Star Glory Federation will seek peace sincerely. Therefore, I cannot prove that I am doing the right thing and that this is the way out for us.

“However, even if I am doing the wrong thing, it will not make the situation get any worse!

“Let’s put it more frankly. Even if we get naked right now and perform a stripper’s dance right below the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons, the situation right now will not get any worse, right?”

Jin Xinyue was dazed for a long time. Her eyelids were bouncing hard as if she were a faulty machine. She mumbled, “It does make sense!”

“So, what are you worried about?” Li Yao declared, “You have every reason to believe that, even if we resolve the imminent crisis right now, the Heaven’s Origin Sector will likely attack the Blood Demon Sector and turn all the demons into slaves several years later after its capability soars with the help of the Flying Star Sector. What should you do then?

“Even so, the worst you can expect is that all the demons will be killed and enslaved. What’s the difference between being killed and enslaved a few years earlier or later?

“In short, this is the situation we are in right now. If we do nothing, we will certainly be doomed. But if we do something and try to change something, although the future may seem volatile and the final peace difficult to achieve, we will at least be able to fight for a one percent chance, right?

“Alright, let’s say that there isn’t one percent. Even if the odds are one thousandth, one millionth, or one billionth, that’s still not zero!

“Food can only be finished one mouthful after another, and a journey can only be completed one step after another. We can always take care of the issues in the Blood Demon Sector for now before we turn to the Star Glory Federation to address the problems there. Even if we are wrong and we’ve done something stupid, it will never make the outcome any worse because the outcome cannot get any worse, right?”

The mist in Jin Xinyue’s eyes gradually dispersed. She mumbled, “You do seem to have point, Master.”

Li Yao grinned. “Your father’s great reasons might be right, but I believe that my minor reasons are legitimate, too. It’s all about the different points of view. He is the commander-in-chief and has to look at the big picture. In comparison, I am just a pawn, and I only need to do what I believe to be the right thing.”

“Then—”

Jin Xinyue’s eyes suddenly turned extraordinarily sharp. She stared Li Yao in the eyes and asked solemnly, “Master, suppose that we solve the crisis at hand and make the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector achieve a truce, but one day, the Star Glory Federation, your motherland, invades the Blood Demon Sector on a large scale as my father has foretold, whose side will you take?”