Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Greetings, Special Representative Lin, my name is Ling Xiaole. On the surface, I am a postgraduate majoring in International Communication in the Sky Fantasia Academy and an intern at the Ministry of Culture of the federation! Didn’t you say that you would like to experience the life of the federation as an ordinary person of the Star Glory Federation? In the coming days, I will work as your tour guide to help you gather the most real and fundamental parts of the life of the folks in the federation!

“You can call me Xiaole or ‘Student Ling’. After all, I haven’t graduated from school yet. Hahaha!”

After the tour in the Uranian Ring War Museum, the delegation from Firefly split up.

Military, economy, law, politics… If the two parties truly meant to meld with each other, there were too many questions waiting to be discussed. The specialists in the delegation were all picked up by their counterparts in the federation as quickly as possible to begin discussions and negotiations sooner. Even the experts of the Ancient Sages Sector who pretended to be ‘Team Red Lotus’ also found the fields that they were interested in and were learning new information with the help of dedicated personnel. Although their joke that they would swagger into the federation on red carpets did not come true, reality was not too far from that and certainly much better than sneaking into the federation under the false identities that they had purchased in Fish Dragon City.

Just like them, Li Yao was greeted by a smiling, enthusiastic girl.

The girl had a caramel skin that was as smooth as milk. Her dark, shining eyes had a hint of green in their depths. She was wearing a soft gauze that looked like mist. Crystal adornments were uttering pleasant sounds from her ears, neck, ankles, and wrist and reflecting rainbow-like brilliance.

Her appearance, and her slightly extravagant use of crystals, was enough for anyone to work out her hometown at first glance—the Water Crystal Sector, a world of deserts.

However, other than the distinctive features of the Water Crystal Sector, she also had two sharp ears that were slightly folded and turning agilely right above her hair. Behind her back, a gold, furry tail was waving, and the vague fragrance of a fox could be smelled from her body, which were obvious features of the demons. Those signs were indicative enough of her identity as a hybrid.

There could not have been a better tour guide to interpret the national integration of the federation than a hybrid of the Water Crystal Sector and the Blood Demon Sector or… a half-demon.

Li Yao glanced at the girl for a moment and said with a smile, “Miss Ling, you are a postgraduate of the Sky Fantasia Academy on the surface. Then, what are you in fact?”

“In fact, I am the most excellent special agent of the Secret Sword Bureau, of course!”

Ling Xiaole blinked guilefully and wagged her furry tail, which instantly changed color like a wheat land blown by the wind, turning from gold into flourishing red. If Li Yao’s memory from a hundred years was not wrong, it was the color of ‘pride’ for certain fox clans in the Blood Demon Sector.

“Special Representative Lin is a big hero and a big celebrity that everybody in the Secret Sword Bureau knows. We all know that you defeated the insurgency of the Immortal Cultivators purely on your own! Wow. A super warrior that was well tempered hundred years ago fell into a long sleep willingly in order to protect an ancient republic, only to be awakened again at the most perilous moment. You are like the protagonist in novels and games. Everyone in the Secret Sword Bureau admires you!”

Ling Xiaole’s big, watery eyes were brimming with admiration. Even if Li Yao knew that it was part of the Secret Sword Bureau’s training, he still could not help but feel good about himself.

Ling Xiaole took the chance to add, “We know that you are hoping to inspect the federation on behalf of Speaker Cui Lingfeng as low-key as possible like an ordinary person. To compete for the mission to welcome you, everybody in the Secret Sword Bureau was almost fighting each other! I went through all the trouble to get the mission. So, please forgive me if I make any mistakes while accompanying you on your journey and don’t show too much dissatisfaction, or I will be replaced by them!

“Look. The guy reading the news on the light up above, the fatty having breakfast next to his shuttle, and so many other people in the corners and skyscrapers nearby all work for the Secret Sword Bureau. Dozens of pairs of eyes are on us right now, analyzing the change of every micro expression on your face. If they find that you are possibly dissatisfied with me and will thereby influence Speaker Cui’s attitude on our cooperation, I’m screwed!”

Ling Xiaole pouted her lips and crossed her hands, staring at Li Yao pitifully.

Li Yao could not help but chuckle again. “So, you sold them out the moment we met?”

“It is not a big deal at all!” Ling Xiaole opened her hands and said unconcernedly, “After all, you are an expert among experts. Even if I did not acknowledge my identity, could you not see through the fact that I am a special agent of the Secret Sword Bureau and that hundreds of our men are observing you from all directions nearby? You would’ve guessed and found out anyway. So, why shouldn’t I say it myself so that you may trust us more? Yes. Trust is exactly what we need most right now!”

Li Yao laughed. “You rehearsed that before, too, didn’t you?”

“You are so awesome!” Ling Xiaole bulged her eyes and exclaimed, “No wonder you are the commander of the Speaker’s special guards and have come to the federation as Speaker Cui’s ‘eye’ and ‘ear’! That’s right. You can say that all this is a ‘ploy’, but I assure you that it is an absolutely genuine, harmless one. Everything we do is meant for us to increase our mutual understanding and trust, until we are integrated into an unbreakable whole in the end!

“Believe me!”

She held her head high. Although she looked no older than twenty, there was solemnity all over her young face that one might squeeze water out. Her red fox tail was mixed with some golden brilliance, too, making it look like a fiercely burning torch.

“Perhaps for Firefly, such contact and integration is a first and last after a thousand years, but for the Star Glory Federation, this is already the fifth time! We have welcomed four batches of guests from the Water Crystal Sector, the Nether World Sector, the Forest Ocean Sector, and the Uranian Ring Sector, who were as hopeful and yet careful as you. In the end, everybody was happy about the result!

“The federation is quite experienced when it comes to ‘integration’. Please be absolutely reassured and simply leave it to us. Yes. That’s right. Nothing can go wrong!”

Ling Xiaole waved her tiny fists and promised that to Li Yao.

Li Yao almost chuckled. He did not expect that the federation would send out such a funny, untraditional, and seemingly unsophisticated ‘tour guide’ for him.

However, on second thought, such a tour guide seemed to be much better than a grave, white-haired old man who was too solemn and official.

Even though it was truly a ploy, it was a rather acceptable one. Everybody would inevitably feel less wary and worried after she told them all their plans and schemes openly.

“Do you feel more comfortable now?” Ling Xiaole looked at Li Yao, full of expectation. “In fact, we were not like this in the past. A long, long time ago, when the federation had only the three core Sectors and had just discovered the first new world—the Water Crystal Sector—there was a time when the natives of the federation and the natives of the Water Crystal Sector were clumsy, ridiculous, and cautious of each other. Quite a lot of jokes have been left behind during the difficult communication at the beginning.

“The natives of the Water Crystal Sector, who were from a world of deserts and seriously short of water, could not understand the federation’s blatant waste of water resources and their infinite greed for crystals that were ‘everywhere to be seen’. The natives of the federation, on the other hand, were also perplexed as to why the people of the Water Crystal Sector attached such great importance to water resources, to the extent that anyone who wasted a tiny proportion of water could be sentenced to death. They thought that the rulers of the Water Crystal Sector were tyrants and almost raised a war against the Water Crystal Sector.

“Thankfully, because of the communication of the wise people on both sides, the war did not take place. As the difficult communication grew more and more frequent, we gradually realized that, despite the differences in our living environments and appearances, we are all human beings deep to our bones, who share equally abundant emotions and feelings.

“Hehe. Speaking of which, it was exactly under such circumstances that my parents met.

“A long, long time ago, my father came to the federation as an envoy of the Water Crystal Sector like you did today to inspect every aspect of the Star Glory Federation so that the Water Crystal Sector would decide to completely join the federation, or to simply keep trading crystals for water resources from the federation, or to forbid commercial communication altogether in case the ‘greedy people of the federation’ attacked the Water Crystal Sector with the Water Crystal Sector’s crystals later.

“My mother, a member of the Sand Fox Clan from the Blood Demon Sector, was a Secret Sword Agent of the Secret Sword Bureau who pretended to be his tour guide.

“Naturally, the federation at that time was far less open and confident than it is today. It was impossible for my mother to confess everything to my father like I did to you today.

“At that time, she concealed her identity and really pretended to be a graduate of the Sky Fantasia Academy majoring in International Communications and a slightly clumsy clerk of the Ministry of Culture.

“Because of their different traditions and customs, and due to their wariness of each other, a lot of hilarious jokes took place when they first met. Also, the radicals in the federation who craved for war and the diehards in the Water Crystal Sector who absolutely distrusted the federation meddled, too… The first contact between the federation and a new world was truly dramatic and unpredictable!

“Thankfully, they finally completely trusted each other and resolved all their conflicts in the end, and they became the first couple between the Water Crystal Sector and the federation. And I, Ling Xiaole ¹ , was born one day a long, long, long time later. They gave me such a name because they still remembered the funny tales when they had just met each other.”

The half-demon girl with a beautiful tail chuckled. “So, it couldn’t be more appropriate for me to work as your tour guide. I believe that we will have a pleasant journey together! But make no mistake. I don’t intend to repeat my parent’s story. I already have a boyfriend, and I’m not into uncle-type men!”