Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

A series of shining but hazy crystal balls immediately appeared deep inside Li Yao’s brain. The crystal balls were divided into dozens of different layers. Every layer was entangled with infinite numbers, glyphs, and rune arrays that were glittering and crashing into each other.

Or rather, his telepathic thoughts had snuck into the worlds deep inside the control chips, trying to crack the simplest rune arrays, analyze the fundamental logics hidden inside the rune arrays, and even modify or sabotage them in his own way.

In other ways, the technique that he had perceived recently and had been stumbling to practice was similar to the invasion of the crystal processor virus.

After Professor Mo Xuan swallowed the ‘star brain’, the mainframe crystal processor of Heavenly Phantom, he had turned into a life form that was similar to a super crystal processor. After the corruption of the extraterrestrial devils, he gained a lot of techniques that were similar to the crystal processor viruses. The enormous database of files that he passed on Li Yao had too many such techniques.

Li Yao had been quite scared of the extraterrestrial devils’ approaches before. Those techniques creeped him out like vipers lurking in a corner of the cave.

However, when he searched the database of Professor Mo Xuan’s legacy and examined the techniques, he was somehow deeply attracted by the mechanisms and general architecture of the techniques.

It was like the feeling when he saw the Tartarean Skeleton for the first time.

The Tartarean Skeleton was a Colossus born for him, and those were techniques created for him, too!

Colossi and techniques were neither good nor evil. If the evilness and madness of the extraterrestrial devils were not involved, the sheer invasion and control of the crystal processors and crystal chips seemed to be acceptable.

Besides, one could only win a battle if one knew both oneself and one’s enemy well. The extraterrestrial devils were far from destroyed. Even Lu Qingchen as a ‘cyber extraterrestrial devil’ might not be entirely dead.

If he intended to slay the devils, he could not be completely ignorant of the methods of the devils. Should he encounter another invasion of the Spiritual Nexus, there might not be as many coincidences as last time.

Driven by his curiosity, Li Yao tried to analyze and understand the astronomical runes, code, and algorithms left by Professor Mo Xuan.

He only meant to give it a shot at the beginning. After all, he was not an expert of crystal processors. Such a tricky technique of transforming telepathic thoughts into a virus and hacking the crystal processors would be too much for him to learn by his estimation. He was merely hoping to learn a thing or two about it so that he would not be at a loss again if he ran into Lu Qingchen or another ‘cyber extraterrestrial devil’ in the future.

However, after he dipped his toes into it, he found it impossible to stop himself. After only a few months, he had indeed perceived a lot of interesting tricks.

No wonder Professor Mo Xuan thought very highly of him back then. Was it possible that the professor had sensed something in advance and realized his talents in the field?

Li Yao’s expertise right now was naturally far from enough for him to compile his telepathic thoughts into a virus and implant it into the enemy’s Spiritual Nexus and crystal processors for sabotage and destruction purposes.

But still…

Li Yao bulged his eyes abruptly. A million black numbers seemed to have flashed deep inside his eyes in that moment. Then, all the home magical equipment around went mad. The housecleaning magical equipment revolved at a high speed, the kettles were shrieking loudly, the refrigerators were opening and closing their doors nonstop, and the automatic ice making machines were pouring out ice diligently.

All the civil magical equipment seemed to have been endowed with life by Li Yao as they danced crazily.

Li Yao grinned. He did not resort to the methods of ‘remote manipulation’ at all. He did not even touch the rune arrays on the surface of the control chips. He had only invaded the control chips with his telepathic thoughts and disrupted the civil from their operational logic and algorithms.

Such a redundant skill seemed quite useless right now. It seemed far-fetched for him to develop the skill to the point where he could invade the mainframe crystal processors that were heavily guarded with an enormous architecture, too.

However, for Li Yao, as long as he could train himself to the point where he could hack and modify the surveillance magical equipment nearby and even figure out the detailed structure of the target to be compromised, it would suffice.

Hehehe. If, one day, I can hack all the crystal cameras and eavesdroppers hundreds of meters around with a telepathic thought, allowing me to intercept and modify their images and sounds, or even to scan the overall structure of the entire building, wouldn’t such a skill be the most irreplaceable treasure for me, the Prince of Ventilation Tubes who is fully dedicated to infiltrating the enemy’s core and performing the decapitation strategy?

While he was dwelling on his imagination and preparing to continue his training, his portable magical equipment buzzed lightly. Raising his wrist to check the message, Li Yao could not help but exclaim in delight, “They have found another ‘hyper spirit’!”

When Li Yao walked out of the training room, a silver shuttle that looked like a ghost in moonlight was already waiting for him.

This place was Hundred Flowers City, Professor Mo Xuan’s home base. Since Li Yao had chosen to absorb Professor Mo Xuan’s heritage, there naturally was no better place for his training than Hundred Flowers City.

Besides, the incident of the extraterrestrial devils was far from over. Regarding Professor Mo Xuan, Lu Qingchen, Lei Yuqin, and the extraterrestrial devils, countless secrets were still waiting to be excavated, and countless loopholes were yet to be blocked and sealed.

The federation had established a special team made of countless specialists of crystal processors and Meditation Healers to analyze the incident of the extraterrestrial devils and to ensure the safety of the Grand-Unified Spiritual Nexus.

Li Yao, as the guy who had crushed Professor Mo Xuan and Lu Qingchen and received Professor Mo Xuan’s heritage, was naturally involved in the special team. He was appointed ‘Senior Counselor’.

The one who had come to pick him up for the emergency meeting, on the other hand, was his old acquaintance—Long Yangjun.

After the space battle was over, the twelve experts of the Ancient Sages Sector had all distinguished themselves. Faced with the triple threats of the Imperium of True Human Beings, the Alliance of the Holy Covenant, and the extraterrestrial devils, they had to accelerate the pace to embrace the federation and deal with the common foes together.

The federation also cleared all obstacles possible. According to their personality, ability, and interest, they were all allocated to important posts.

It was meant to make use of their expertise and Cultivation. Furthermore, the arrangement would facilitate the integration of the two parties and lay a solid foundation for the Ancient Sages Sector to join the federation as the eighth world of the Star Glory Federation.

Qi Zhongdao was devoted to the study of the laws of the federation. Han Baling somehow took interest in the police system of the federation. Meng Chixin, Qi Changsheng, Yan Liren, and some other experts were still chasing the defeated soldiers of the Black Wind Fleet deep inside the space together with the Burning Prairie Fleet. The other experts had their own appropriate arrangements, too.

Long Yangjun, on the other hand, offered to participate in the subsequent investigation on the incident of the extraterrestrial devils.

Although she was technically not an experienced expert of crystal processors, her soul was much stronger than that of any regular Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator. She also seemed to boast a certain unusual understanding of the extraterrestrial devils. Naturally, the federation could not decline her request. She had spent the last few months in Hundred Flowers City and met Li Yao a lot.

Hardly had he opened the door when Long Yangjun exclaimed fussily, “Monster Li, I feel that you have made improvements in your Cultivation again.

“Well, well, well. It is not easy for the improvement of someone in your level to be sensed. Have you found an opportunity to enter the Divinity Transformation Stage?”

No Cultivator did not want to advance to higher levels no matter how high their level. As a close friend of Long Yangjun’s, Li Yao found it unnecessary to conceal it from her. He simply grinned and boarded the shuttle in great content. Naturally, Long Yangjun mocked him for a while.

The shuttle moved fast and soon reached the space station where Deep Blue Super Brain Hospital was.

After the incident of the extraterrestrial devils, the space station had been entirely blocked.

It was almost a treasury below Deep Blue Super Brain Hospital. The investigation team had excavated for three months, but what they had found was still merely the tip of the iceberg.

At this moment, countless investigators, who were wearing internally circulative suits and silver helmets that could block the invasion of telepathic thoughts and disruption of spiritual waves, were busy doing their job on the relic of the hospital that had been dug up like an enormous construction site.

“President Li!”

Hardly had the shuttle stopped when a graceful, scholarly man whose hair was half white came to greet them.

He was Xie Wufeng, the deputy leader of the investigation team and a professor of the Sky Fantasia Academy decades ago who had a public debate with Professor Mo Xuan regarding ‘virtual life’.

Fate was truly quite a wonderful thing. Li Yao had watched the recording of the famous debate. At that time, Professor Mo Xuan had still been a firm endorser of the Grand-Unified Spiritual Nexus and virtual life, while Professor Xie Wufeng was a worried alarmist and opposer.

However, after the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector, Professor Mo Xuan had been caught in frustration and desperation because of the gloomy future of a brand-new virtual life form. He had shifted his attention to the studies of virtualizing humans.

On the other hand, Professor Xie Wufeng, who had openly objected to him and argued with him for years, was convinced by him and became the successor of his past ideology. The guy abandoned his tenure in Sky Fantasia Academy and devoted himself to the study of the Grand-Unified Spiritual Nexus and brand-new virtual life.

When he joined the special investigation team, Professor Xie Wufeng was also the latest helmsman of the game ‘Civilization’, responsible for controlling the general picture and designing principle of the DLCs and the overall operational logic of ‘Civilization’.

The game ‘Civilization’ had a lot to do with the Glorious Sunlight Group and Li Yao himself, too. Now that Li Yao had returned to the federation, he had naturally had quite a few in-depth conversations with Professor Xie Wufeng. The two parties were in a close relationship. Since they were working in the special investigation team together, not many formalities were needed.

On Professor Xie Wufeng’s shoulder, a little green bird made of delicate, clear crystals uttered a crisp voice, “Li Yao!”

Naturally, it was Li Yao’s unforgettable ‘Sister Qingqing’, Wei Qingqing.

Wei Qingqing was an important member of the ‘Tinder Plan’ who had communicated with Professor Mo Xuan a lot in recent years. She was also a distinguished architect of the Spiriters’ Realm, responsible for creating and rendering different Spiriters’ Realms with words.

After learning of Professor Mo Xuan’s plan, she had applied many times to join the special investigation team. With Li Yao’s help, she did not meet much difficulty in joining it.

“Professor Xie, Sister Qingqing!” Li Yao greeted them with a smile. “I’m told that you have located the last ‘hyper spirit’?”