Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Li Yao was having a secret conversation with the Fist King far away from the crowd.

He had a rather self-contradictory attitude toward the Fist King, an artificial intelligence with automatic learning functions.

Li Yao had thought that he would be highly vigilant and strongly nauseated of the notions such as “virtual life” or “artificial intelligent” after experiencing the turmoil caused by the extraterrestrial devils in the Star Glory Federation, where the artificial intelligence almost went out of control and completely infiltrated the Spiritual Nexus.

But for some reason, when he was faced with the Fist King, an “auto-learning” artificial intelligence, he did not have the same feeling at all. Instead, he had an uncanny sense of warmth when he talked with the guy.

Perhaps, it was because he recognized deeper secrets regarding artificial intelligence and virtual lives in the “Virtual Spirits Sector”, the collapsed virtual world. The remark of “virtual virus from a higher-dimension universe” was still echoing in his ears.

Or maybe, the hideous and foul scoundrels among human beings were enough for him to loathe, and there were simply too many enemies in the boundless universe. The Pangu Clan, the extraterrestrial devils, the alien species… All of them boasted the potential to destroy the civilization of mankind.

He really did not have additional vigor to hate an artificial intelligence that did not show the sign of “life” yet.

In any case, the Fist King had fulfilled his part of the deal dutifully by helping him keep the safety of Han Te and Liu Li.

Li Yao did not want to violate his promise, although he was faced with only a cold machine.

“Grab this!”

Li Yao threw over a Cosmos Ring and sent an opening password to the Fist King’s crystal processor.

The Fist King snatched it and observed it for a while in his hand before he asked, “What’s this?”

“Didn’t we reach a pact where you help me protect the two little fellows and I’ll do my best and help you get stronger?”

Li Yao smiled. “You have done a great job so far. The two little fellows have been utterly unhurt in such a troublesome and dangerous environment. But it is quite a headache for me on my side. Now that we are still beleaguered and fleeing like mice, I can’t find a stable refining workshop and enough resources to help upgrade you.

“So, I’ll give you some good stuff first. Consider them as interests.

“They are the storage chips I stole from the mainframe crystal processors in the laboratories and the control center of ‘Manjusaka, the City in the Sky’. All the data about the experiments on the cutting-edge magical equipment that were conducted on the Land of Sins in the past hundreds of years must’ve been stored inside. I believe that the test data of the cutting-edge magical equipment will be of great use for you.”

The Fist King’s man-made eyes were immediately brighter. His tone was still cold, but the tone of his speech was higher. “That’s right. I am sort of a piece of special cutting-edge magical equipment myself. If the test data of all the best magical equipment in the past hundreds of years are melted into my main database, they will certainly yield more abundant variations and make my combat ability a hundred times higher than before!”

Pausing for a moment, he adjusted the light of the man-made eyes and said in a low voice, “Thank you.”

Li Yao couldn’t help but smile. “You know how to thank people too?”

“Not exactly.”

The Fist King said, “Neither the real me nor the identity of ‘Fist King Lei Zonglie’ needs to say thanks very often. I am still learning.”

Looking at his bizarre appearance with two heads, Li Yao wondered if he was making the right decision. Pondering for a moment, he still said, “Is the deal between the two of us still in force?”

The Fist King asked, “What do you mean?”

“You have to escape from the Land of Sins, but the universe is vast and full of dangers. It is possible that the world outside is even more dangerous than here. I am still not reassured about the two little fellows and the resistance warriors of Starlight. They are too weak.”

Li Yao said carefully, “But you are different. With the mainframe crystal processor of the control center of the global sword network and the development data of all the cutting-edge magical equipment in the past hundreds of years, I believe that it would not take long before your combat ability soars and makes you a real super expert, would it?

“If you can continue protecting the two little fellows and the small group of Cultivators, I think the odds of their survival will be higher.”

The Fist King asked, “What about you? You are obviously ten times stronger than me.”

Li Yao shook his head. “I can’t be with you for now. On one hand, I need to distract Li Lingfeng and other Immortal Cultivators in order to create an opportunity for you to break the siege. On the other hand, there is a greater secret that I must explore, one which probably concerns the power pivot of the Imperium.”

What Li Yao referred to was obviously the dramatic relationship between Li Jialing, Li Linghai, and Li Lingfeng.

If he could get to the bottom of the issue, it was possible that he could reach out to Li Linghai through Li Jialing, thereby stirring trouble directly at the heart of the Imperium. Wouldn’t it be easier for him to achieve his purposes of “diplomacy, balance, and sabotage” if so?

Therefore, Li Yao had to find Li Jialing. It was impossible for him to break out of the siege together with Han Te and Liu Li.

The Fist King would be the best bodyguard for the small group of Cultivators.

The Fist King’s man-made eyes flashed for a while before he said coldly, “But I only want to be stronger.”

“But you are already stronger than before!”

Li Yao smiled. Looking at the storage chips in the Fist King’s hands, he said, “Trust me. If you continue walking down on the path, you will only become stronger and stronger, or even the strongest in the entire universe someday. Isn’t the fall of ‘Manjusaka, the City in the Sky’ the best proof?”

The Fist King was deep in thought.

Although the two crystal processor cores of super performances were calculating at the same time, his metal body was still shivering violently.

“You are truly very strong.”

The Fist King said, “However I calculate it, I cannot figure out the slightest possibility to shoot down ‘Manjusaka, the City in the Sky’.”

“I can’t take all the credit for that.”

Li Yao said, “I just showed up in an appropriate place at an appropriate time and did the appropriate things. It’s more suitable to say that everybody in space and below the ground worked together, fought blood battles, and made the accomplishment together.

“If Starlight hadn’t shown up, and without your intelligence and your cover, I might not have been able to poke down the space fortress even if I were ten times stronger.”

The Fist King asked again, “The thing you used earlier was a Colossus, the legendary ultimate weapon in the sea of stars?”

“Exactly.”

Li Yao said, “If you are still willing to conform to our deal and protect the two little fellows, as well as the group of Cultivators, in the next few years, maybe I can strengthen you comprehensively someday with the components and units from the Colossi. Or rather, I can reshape you into a Colossus.”

Li Yao was not bragging.

He had discovered so many Colossi on the Nuwa warship in the Ancient Sages Sector. With the wealth and power of the “Glorious Sunlight Group” under his name, even if he could not get an intact Colossus, it would certainly be no trouble to purchase the debris of some of the Colossi.

In fact, the Glorious Sunlight Group was itself one of the state-of-the-art magical equipment development platforms in the Star Glory Federation. It had tremendous components and units of the Colossi for the research and duplication work.

Besides, Li Yao believed that he would be engaged in fierce battles with even more Colossi of the Imperium in the future. It wouldn’t be strange if he could capture one or two of them.

If the Fist King was willing to join the side of the Cultivators as “our” intelligence, Li Yao felt it would be a worthwhile investment to perform complete upgrades with the units from a few Colossi.

As he expected, the Fist King’s man-made eyes were glittering and scorching again.

He touched the breastplate at his chest.

There was not a heart inside, but only the Gold Barley seeds that Liu Li offered him.

“Alright. It is a very charming offer. According to my calculation and deduction, the deal has a strong positive effect on the improvement of my combat ability.”

The Fist King said, as if he were explaining about his logic thinking, “Until the Imperium or any other forces makes a better offer, I’ll keep Han Te and Liu Li safe and sound.”

Li Yao smiled. “Thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me. Gratitude means nothing to me. All you need to do is to remember your promise as you have today.”

The Fist King confirmed with himself again. “You know who I really am, and you do not need to treat me like a human being. I am just a piece of sophisticated magical equipment, a cold puppet, and a fully-wound machine.”

…

Gao Kangda and his crew came.

They had performed full maintenance on “Great Mountain”.

Very fortunately, the ancient mining starship that could be dated back to hundreds of years ago was designed to work in the most perilous asteroids and stone belts in the first place. Having taken consideration of the possibilities of cosmic storms and meteoroid hits, the shell and the internal structure of the starship were produced in the toughest, sturdiest, and most robust way. It boasted a high ability of survival and could persist in flight under a damage level of 50%.

As long as the shell was more or less mended with temporary patches, and enough fuel was injected, the mining starship would be able to soar into the sky, get rid of the gravity of the planet, and even perform space jumps through the four-dimensional space, which, of course, would still be highly risky.

Under the introductions of the obstreperous “fellow Cultivators” of the underground branch of Starlight, and seeing the enormous crater left on the ground after “Great Mountain” was plucked, Gao Kangda and his companions finally realized how they were saved.

The pictures where Li Yao dominated the battles in space invincibly in his crystal suit and his Colossus were witnessed by them with their own eyes. The hearts of many of them almost exploded because of Li Yao’s spectacular performance.

Plucking such a behemothic armed mining starship from the ground with only the technique of “remote manipulate” was so marvelous a method that they couldn’t have been more stunned.

It was beyond any doubt that the halo of “the Cultivator who has been lost for a thousand years” had been stuck to Li Yao’s head tightly. There was no way that he could get rid of it at all now.