Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Taking a long breath, Li Yao tried to calm himself down before he remarked, “Crawl out if we can’t jump out? That’s indeed a theory that I’ve never heard before!”

“It was not unusual for Wang Xi to propose bizarre theories such as this one,” Yan Liren said. “For example, he once asked me whether or not I ever wondered what exactly the world beyond the sky was, how exactly the so-called deities’ realm looked, and what the difference between the deities living in their realm and mortals such as us was.

“He also suspected that theory of breaking the void and ascending to the deities’ realm is just a scam. Could the seniors who had ‘immortalized’ really live an eternal life in the deities’ realm? If that was true, why had the ‘deities’ never returned to the Ancient Sages Sector to visit us and teach us the methods of ascension in the past hundred thousand years?

“I remember that the weirdest question he asked me was this. Everybody knows that the so-called ‘Ancient Sages Sector’ is actually an enormous sphere that floats in the boundless sea of stars.

“Then, why does the sphere not fall downward, and what exactly is ‘downward’?

“Also, the sphere is rotating all the time. If so, why is the water in the ocean not poured into the sky, and why are the sphere’s inhabitants not thrown off the sphere?”

Li Yao was felt so astounded that he almost fell off the cliff. Holding back his shock, he nodded and replied, “It’s very interesting. How come I never thought of such bizarre questions before myself? How did you answer them, Brother Yan?”

“I didn’t,” Yan Liren said. “I am not interested in such stuff. Even if the deities do exist, the only thing that I care about is how it feels like to kill them.”

Li Yao was amused. “That makes sense. Discussing the mysteries of the sea of stars with you, Brother Yan, is no different from casting pearls before swine!”

Yan Liren was not insulted to be taken as swine. He admitted frankly, “Yes. Sword arts are my sole concern. In every annual meeting with Wang Xi, most of the things we talked about were about the sword. Wang Xi indeed had an extraordinary talent for sword arts. Or rather, as long as he grew serious, he could be a top-tier expert in any field!

“I remember that when I met Wang Xi for the first time ten years ago, he was already the most powerful eunuch in the world, but he paid a special visit to me to ask about the mysteries of the sword arts.

“I’d been dedicated to my sword for my entire life, and I was not interested in fame or power at all. I did not intend to waste my time on him, but my senior brother and the rest of them begged me, claiming that the meeting concerned the future development of the Purple Pole Sword Sect. So, I had to waste a few days of my time to deal with him!

“However, after I tested him, I discovered that Wang Xi’s Cultivation was immeasurable, and his passion about sword arts was genuine. He was definitely a worthy opponent!

“At that time, in terms of sword arts, he was still far behind me.

“However, I could feel his rapid growth in our competitions every year. In less than five years, he already deserved the full will of my sword to cope with him!

“In the last year, he was even able to enlighten me, asking me not to dwell in the unimaginable power of the three primeval swords too much.

“A swordsman rides his sword and should not be ridden by the sword!

“As I recall, that is exactly what Wang Xi said at that time!

“His words were like a bash right on my forehead and awakened me from my delusion. When I reviewed my experience in polishing the three primeval swords, I realized how ridiculous and hilarious I was. I was almost lost for good!

“It was not until then that I completed the polishing of my fourth sword, and I finally achieved the perfect state where my sword and I are integrated as one!”

Li Yao was greatly moved. According to Yan Liren’s interpretation, Wang Xi, the Lead Eunuch as one of the ‘Four Rapscallions’, was indeed not a simple person!

Having come from a modern Cultivation civilization, Li Yao knew for a fact that the secret treasures of the Pangu Clan from the primeval era, despite their formidability, were not necessarily unassailable.

There were two unchangeable shortcomings about the primeval treasures.

Firstly, most of the primeval treasures were not designed for human beings. Their original owners could be in bizarre shapes, say, half human and half snake, three heads and six arms, or particularly monolithic.

Then, the operations of the treasures might conflict with the physiological features of human beings.

The colossal black sword that Yan Liren wielded would be a perfect example. Not just a dwarf, even a muscular, ten-meter-tall man would not be able to wield it in his hands easily.

If the sword was driven by telepathic thoughts, there would be issues such as interference and latency. It would not be as convenient as when it was wielded in a pair of hands.

Secondly, because of the erosion during the hundreds of thousands of years, most of the primeval treasures often had all kinds of rust and damaged. Even if they looked as good as new on the surface, there were often hidden injuries and metal fatigue inside.

That was the conclusion that the Star Glory Federation made after excavating Kunlun for five years.

They searched Kunlun for five years before they managed to find enough components to assemble five Colossi!

Therefore, the seniority of a piece of magical equipment did not imply its excellence. There were both marvelous weapons and garbage in the primeval era.

Although Li Yao came from a modern Cultivation civilization, it still took him a long time to overcome his blind admiration on the heritages of the Pangu civilization and to realize that anciency did not necessarily lead to excellency.

But Wang Xi had so many amazing ideas in an enclosed environment such as the Ancient Sages Sector. He even clearly recognized the advantages and disadvantages of the primeval treasures.

The Lead Eunuch who once stirred up the entire world of Cultivators in the Great Qian Dynasty purely on his own was too dreadful!

Who is he exactly? Could he be…

Calming himself down, Li Yao simply showed that he was interested and asked directly, “I’ve been staying in the Great Qian Dynasty for almost half a year, and the name ‘Wang Xi’ has echoed in my ears hundreds of times. It is said that he is still one of the ‘Four Rapscallions’ even to this day, on par with Han Baling, Wan Mingzhu, and Qi Changsheng. Brother Yan, you’ve had seven competitions with him, and you must know him pretty well. In your eyes, what kind of person is he exactly? Is he a wicked and cunning man as the rumors make him out to be?”

“I don’t know if he is wicked and cunning. I’m not interested to know it, either.”

Tilting his head and thinking for a moment, Yan Liren put on a weird expression as he said, “Anyways, if I have to make a comment, he is an absent-minded guy.”

“An absent-minded guy?” Li Yao was slightly dazed. “How so?”

“He seems to be absent-minded about everything. He does not even seem to fit in this world.” Yan Liren’s eyes were slightly cramping as he gnashed his teeth. “Even when we were in the middle of our fierce fights, I could still notice something uncanny deep inside his eyes, which told me that he did not fully concentrate on the fight with me!

“I always felt that Wang Xi does not belong to the Ancient Sages Sector, at least not just the Ancient Sages Sector. He belongs to be bigger, vaster world. The legendary ‘deities’ realm’, perhaps!”

Li Yao’s face shifted greatly because of the last remark. He gasped so hard that his throat was shrieking.

To cover himself, he hurried to ask, “What? Are you suggesting that, while Wang Xi was ‘absent-minded’, he was still able to draw even with you, Brother Yan, despite the slight disadvantage?

“Then, if Wang Xi had focused his soul, attention, and spiritual energy on the sword in his hand, wouldn’t he have been able to surpass you and become the greatest swordsman in the world?”

“Probably.” Yan Liren shook his head with a smile. “It’s a pity that he cannot concentrate his spirit on a tiny sword, just like you can’t, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture.

“He has his path, you have your path, and I have mine. Each of us has chosen our own path. Although we may share the same destination, the scenery that we see on the road is still different!”

Li Yao was silent for a moment. Then he observed with mixed feelings, “It sounds like you think very highly of Wang Xi, Brother Yan!”

“Indeed I do.” After pondering for a moment, Yan Liren said, “Let me put it this way. If I am forced to choose only one person to kill for my entire life, with the options being Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, Qi Zhongdao, and Wang Xi, I will choose to kill Wang Xi without any hesitation!

“This is an example of how highly I think of Wang Xi. You wouldn’t mind, would you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture?”

“No. No. Not at all. You can always test your sword with Wang Xi, Qi Zhongdao, Qi Changsheng, Wan Mingzhu, Han Baling, and the rest of them. I’m really not in a hurry. I can wait in line behind the two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators!”

Catching his breath for a moment, Li Yao rolled his eyes and said, “There are truly all kinds of wonders in the world. I find it hard to understand why such a great man like Wang Xi would brutalize his body to work as a eunuch in the royal palace. With his wisdom and talents, would he not distinguish himself under a different identity?”

Yan Liren smiled and said, “You don’t get to choose a lot of things at first. You feel depressed. You are bothered for decades. But when you get to choose and you look back, you feel that it is all unimportant and that the choice does not mean anything. Just like I choose to be a… dwarf.”

“That’s not the same.” Li Yao frowned and said, “You are born with such a body, Brother Yan. But going to the royal palace as a eunuch, on the other hand, is—”

“You are wrong.” With weird brilliance beaming out of Yan Liren’s eyes, he said, “I wonder, have you ever heard of such a notion as ‘natural eunuch’ before, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture?”

Li Yao was greatly surprised. “Are you trying to say that Wang Xi is a ‘natural eunuch’, Brother Yan?”

“It is just a groundless rumor. Who knows that it is true or false?”

“It is impossible for other people to get to the bottom of it except for himself,” Yan Liren said.

“Of course.” Li Yao smiled bitterly. “I’m afraid that none except the lunatics who want to be killed would have the courage to ask the question right in front of Wang Xi’s face. Hey, I’m told that you are a natural eunuch. Is it true?”

“Not necessarily so.” Yan Liren scratched his nose and spoke as if it were not a big deal. “I once asked him right to his face. I also planned to cut open his pants with my sword and see what’s what…”