Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Shua! Shua! Shua!

All eyes were on Li Yao.

Li Yao, however, was not bothered at all but simply appreciated Xiahou Wuxin’s collection with great interest.

Xiahou Wuxin stared at the Fist King in a trance and asked in a low voice, “Do you mean it?”

“You should’ve seen it with your own eyes when I charged at the City in the Sky with Great Iron City,” the Fist King replied. “Do we have another way out except for blowing up the entire sky?”

After pondering for a moment, Xiahou Wuxin nodded with a bitter smile. “Indeed. If we do not knock over the board completely, we will forever be chess pieces! The Land of Sins is vast, but every inch of land is monitored by the Immortal Cultivators. Even this dark, sunless world here is not safe. Wherever we run, we cannot escape from the cover of crimson rays of ‘Manjusaka’!

“However, as for how exactly we are going to fight against the City in the Sky, we must make thorough plans. Based on my experience with the Immortal Cultivators, since so many things have happened in Liberty City, they will certainly try to demolish the city completely to prevent news of what happened from spreading.

“Therefore, whatever our plan is, we have to escape from Liberty City as soon as possible!

“For the escape today, I have planned in secret for twenty years and collected countless pieces of powerful magical equipment, weapons, and strengthening drugs. Many of them did not even fall from the Heavenly Rails but were excavated by me from the relics of the Martial Meritocrats Civilization before Judgment Day. You may take as many things as you can. But make it fast. I estimate that we have three hours for preparations at best, and we must leave in three hours. Otherwise, the Immortal Cultivators will certainly be able to trace us here!”

Xiahou Wuxin clapped his fists and unlocked the storage boxes that were embedded in the rocks. Many enormous chests glided out without a sound along the rails.

“Wow!”

The finely-made, rigorously-structured firearms and blades that carried the air of state-of-the-art technology, as well as the armor and spiritual puppets countless times more advanced than the magical equipment in the warehouse outside, turned the place into a small but dazzling arsenal. Han Te, Liu Li, and Xin Xiaoqi were all glowing with greed and could not help but gulp hard.

Profound brilliance beamed out of the Fist King’s artificial eyes. Looking at the slaughter machines in different forms, he remarked, “I did not know that the leader of Liberty City was also interested in collecting spiritual puppets.”

“It was not exactly interest but because of my lack of choices,” Xiahou Wuxin replied with a bitter smile. “Under the surveillance of the Immortal Cultivators, I did not dare tell my secrets to anyone. When I devised my desperate plan, I did not plan to bring any assistants other than Xin Xiaoqi. Compared to those people who may betray me and even delay me at any moment, the spiritual puppets were certainly the most reliable partners. As long as a clear command is given, they will not tire, they will not back off, and they absolutely will not betray me.

“Fist King, you are a ghost. The artificial body that you use must share something in common with the components of the spiritual puppets. I can tell that the artificial body you are using right now is a hastily jumbled product that probably cannot bring out ten percent of your combat ability. Why don’t you pick some suitable units from the spiritual puppets and the backup components that I prepared to slightly strengthen and modify your body?

“However, I am not an expert of maintenance and modification. Besides, those spiritual puppets are either the most advanced models thrown from the City in the Sky or the ultimate slaughter machines from the Martial Meritocrats Civilization before ‘Judgment Day’. They are the most precise in structure and barely compatible with each other. I can only use them or perform simple maintenance, but I’m afraid it’s beyond my abilities to dismantle and regroup them. I wonder, do you want to…”

Without a word, the Fist King turned to Li Yao.

Li Yao smiled. “Are there facilities like maintenance workbenches for magical equipment in this place?”

Xiahou Wuxin was stunned again.

‘Fist King’ Lei Zonglie was one of the most famous collectors of spiritual puppets in the Land of Sins. Also, Great Iron City, the frightening, mobile fortress, had been personally crafted by him. Therefore, the Fist King’s expertise in refining was well acknowledged to be among the best in the Land of Sins.

Xiahou Wuxin had expected the Fist King to modify and upgrade his artificial body because it was a matter of life and death.

He did not expect that the Fist King would entrust the work of such importance to the… mysterious ghost or spiritual puppet.

“If I may ask, who are you?”

In front of the mysterious expert who was strong enough to scare away Wei Xiaotian, Xiahou Wuxin did not dare act condescending.

“You may call me ‘Fiend Star’.”

Naturally, Li Yao could not tell them the secrets of the Star Glory Federation at such a dangerous moment. It was not because he did not believe in the Fist King or Xiahou Wuxin but because everybody might be caught by the Immortal Cultivators whose interrogation methods could not be resisted simply by willpower. So, the less they knew, the better.

“After we truly blow up Manjusaka, perhaps I can tell you more things. But for now, all you need to know is that we share a common goal, and the high and mighty angels and Immortal Cultivators are our mutual enemy.”

Xiahou Wuxin was too seasoned and sophisticated to pursue the matter further. Nodding, he walked to a wall at the end of the secret warehouse that was as smooth as a mirror and groped for a moment. Then, like a magic trick, he pulled out an enormous workbench from the wall.

Several delicate anti-gravity rune arrays had been carved on the workbench, allowing the heavy components and even crystal suits, artificial bodies, or spiritual puppets to float above it. Dozens of multipurpose maintenance arms were folded and stored on two sides, which were controlled by a special crystal processor.

Turning on the interface, he explained to Li Yao and the Fist King, somewhat embarrassed, “In fact, this secret warehouse was not built from scratch by me. It is an underground arsenal of the Martial Meritocrats Civilization that I accidentally discovered. This maintenance platform was a product of the Martial Meritocrats Civilization, too. The application of many of its functions is beyond my ability. Although there is a detailed user manual, the instructions on it are complicated, and the information contained inside is as vast as an ocean. We have only three hours at best, so…”

“It’s alright. Let me look at it first.”

The maintenance platform left from the Martial Meritocrats Civilization aroused Li Yao’s interest greatly. His soul split apart into streams of telepathic thoughts and flooded into the control crystal processor of the maintenance platform.

Everybody was a bit suspicious at first, especially Xiahou Wuxin, who was uncertain of the origins of the mysterious ‘Fiend Star’.

But the streams of information falling on the light beam activated by the control crystal processor fell faster and faster.

At first, it was like a storm. Then, it was like a cataract. After that, countless shooting stars seemed to be rushing down at the same time. The clusters of complicated runes and figures turned into glittering lines, and even Xiahou Wuxin was unable to distinguish them anymore despite his computational ability.

In the end, the light beam fell completely blank, but squeaky noises echoed from inside the control crystal processor, with white smoke popping up now and then, as if every crystal chip inside had been ravaged to the limits and might start to burn at any moment.

Xiahou Wuxin was truly dumbfounded and lost for words.

After ruling Liberty City for thirty years, he had seen too many brutal beasts, tough bandits, and mysterious Immortal Cultivators, and he had also received countless pieces of bizarre magical equipment from the Immortal Cultivators. But he had never seen such a weird scene before!

Even the Fist King’s artificial eyes were glittering in unusual brilliance as he analyzed Li Yao’s level quickly, but the final conclusion was that it was unevaluable!

Shua!

The dozens of multipurpose maintenance arms seemed to have been endowed with a life by Li Yao and began to roll swiftly at the same time, picking up almost ten spiritual puppets from the storage boxes nearby.

Xiahou Wuxin was about to remind Li Yao that those spiritual puppets were made in different styles and methods and that they were hardly compatible with each other. If they were dismantled at the same place, it would be easy to mix them up.

But before he was able to say anything, a metal tornado was raised on the maintenance platform!

The ten spiritual puppets seemed to have been cut by invisible sharp blades and turned into the most fundamental components in the blink of an eye. Joining each other, they began to revolve quickly!

The speed of their revolution was so high and the brilliance that they released was so dazzling that nobody in the small warehouse was able to keep their eyes open.

Even if they did shut their eyes, the stinging on their faces, hands, and bodies that felt like paper cuts, as well as the sounds of high-speed friction in their ears, still reminded them that an unbelievable miracle was happening right before them!

Only three minutes passed.

The tornado vanished. The air was filled with the smell of burning metal, which stimulated their nostrils acutely and made everybody except the Fist King want to sneeze.

Li Yao’s obviously unsatisfied voice came over. “Well, this is the best I can do now.”

Everybody opened their eyes in suspicion and astonishment. The first thing they saw was a whole ground of metal powder. Then, it was the multipurpose mechanical arms that had turned orange and were about to melt because of the high-speed friction and cutting just now. In the end, they saw a brand-new spiritual puppet that was sitting cross-legged above the maintenance platform.

“Hiss!”

Everybody gasped hard. What a spiritual puppet it was!

Judging from the body size, it was only between 1.6 and 1.7 meters tall, which was not huge or impressive.

But the glamorous armor, the natural structure, the smooth shape, and the flawless balance of the four arms all unintentionally indicated the violent aesthetics that had never appeared in the Land of Sins before.

It was not like a cold slaughter machine but more like a primeval beast that was in hibernation. If one held their breath and listened carefully, they would be able to hear the incessant heartbeat of fighting!