Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Rest assured, Fellow Cultivator Lei, I never intended to fight a protracted civil war. I want to fix the problem as soon as possible.”

Li Linghai’s narrow and long fingers danced agilely, drawing a glittering 3D light beam between the two of them, which was a map of the vast territory of the Imperium.

Under Li Linghai’s fingers, the map of the Imperium was enlarged, enlarged, and enlarged, until the only thing left at the center was a shining, glamorous planet.

Li Linghai smiled. “When my Deep Sea Fleet, Fellow Cultivator Lei’s Astounding Thunder Fleet, and the additional Godly Might Fleet are combined into the torrents that will revolutionize the Imperium, is it possible for us to march to this place and turn it upside down?”

“This place, the capital?”

Lei Chenghu bulged his eyes and looked at Li Linghai as if she were a lunatic. “Impossible. It’s absolutely impossible!

“First of all, due to the lack of enormous space gates, we cannot jump to the sky of the capital in an organized way. It must be noted that the space near the capital is brimming with automatic defense magical equipment. The auto-piloting flying swords and the space torpedoes that can be detonated on their own almost filled all the sailing routes!

“Once our warships jumped to the nearby of the capital in a mess, we will be blown up into a mess even before the elite fleets of the four Kurfürst families show up. It will be barely possible for us to be gathered.

“Secondly, the capital of the Imperium is itself an enormous space fortress. Ever since the collapse of the Black Wind battle line a hundred years ago, possibilities that the Imperium might fight all the way to the capital have already been taken into consideration, and the capital has been strengthened again and again.

“After a hundred years of construction, the capital today has been armed to every alley, and there are countless permanent shelters and warehouses of crystals and magical equipment below the ground! Any battle to attack the capital will become a prolonged war of attrition. But due to the shortage of supplies, we can only afford a quick battle. It is impossible to take the capital down!

“Thirdly, and most importantly, ever since the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance, the scared elders of the Imperium have mobilized tremendous forces to the capital under the name of protecting the emperor. But of course, they are only trying to protect themselves.

“Three times more fleets are gathered in the Imperium today than usual. How can we expect to break in? Considering the capital as the target will be suicide. The soldiers under our command will die in vain, and the last hope of the Imperium will be gone.

“So, if this is the plan of Fellow Cultivator Li’s ‘reformists’, I don’t think that I can agree with it!”

“Please be patient, Fellow Cultivator Lei. There is a slight error in your evidence. The elites of the four Kurfürst families that are gathered in the capital right now are not three times than usual but at least five times. Also, when they hear that ‘Queen Li Linghai’ and ‘God of War Lei Chenghu’ have joined their hands to march to the capital for an ‘armed intervention’ under the banner of the reformists, it is very likely that not five times but ten times more troops will be gathered in the capital when the elders are intimidated, right?”

Li Linghai smiled. “However, even ten times more troops cannot stop us from lunging at the capital to reveal the ugly truths of the lords and the nobles and to awake the numb people with our lives and blood, right?”

Lei Chenghu sniffed. “Is there any point in that? It’s nonsense!”

“It is indeed meaningless. Marching to the capital recklessly for an armed intervention will not be worthwhile even if several elders are killed. Instead, the Astounding Thunder Fleet, the Deep Sea Fleet, and the Godly Might Fleet will all be destroyed. The capital will be blown into a mess. A heavy wound at the heart of the Imperium will likely collapse the reign of the four Kurfürst families, but it will be a lose-lose for us too.”

Li Linghai suddenly changed her voice and said with glittering eyes, “We are all well aware that we will not do such follies as to die together with our enemies, but our enemies do not know that, do they? Both Fellow Lei and I look like desperate gamblers right now. It won’t be surprising at all whatever insane things we do when we just want to take our chances.

“Therefore, the moment they know that we are about to march to the capital for an ‘armed intervention’, the elites of the four Kurfürst families will certainly reinforce the capital and defend the place vehemently!”

Lei Chenghu was slightly dazed. The flames in his eyes immediately burned up the entire chamber. He mumbled, “Yes. The news of the fall of Godly Might Prison won’t be kept a secret for long. In one day at most, the four Kurfürst families will learn that I have escaped and that the reformists have established such enormous forces!

“Marching to the capital for an ‘armed intervention’, on the other hand, seems to be our only option in our desperation!

“In that case…”

“Exactly. Please take a look, Fellow Cultivator Lei.”

Li Linghai reduced the map of the Imperium and pointed at a red area at the edge. “Right now, two-thirds of the elites of the four Kurfürst families are concentrated in the newly-recovered territory of the Imperium, partly to prevent the Covenant Alliance from taking the territory back, and partly, and more importantly, to keep an eye on the new warlords and the smaller nobles, ensuring that they will be at an advantageous position when the cake is divided.

“Those fleets will never be mobilized.

“Then, to strengthen the defense in the capital, they will have to use the one-third elites left in their hometown.

“Once they learn that we are about to march to the capital for an ‘armed intervention’, those elites will definitely reinforce the capital without any delay. Then, wouldn’t the nests of the four Kurfürst families be more weakly defended than ever?

“When the Astounding Thunder Fleet, the Deep Sea Fleet, and the Godly Might Fleet are gathered, even if we cannot conquer the capital, can’t we conquer the nests of the four Kurfürst families?”

Lei Chenghu thought hard for a moment and changed the size of the map of the Imperium now and then, studying the direct fief of the four Kurfürst families wholeheartedly. A moment later, he raised his head and looked at Li Linghai. “The nests of the four Kurfürst families will not be much easier to conquer than the capital. There will be heavy casualties. We cannot deal with four enormous interest groups that have been passed on for a thousand years at the same time.”

“Who says that we are going to deal with four of them? One will be sufficient.”

Combing her dancing hair, Li Linghai said casually, “Or rather, we may not need to conquer any of them. Just like what happened in the Godly Might Prison today, no blood will be shed.”

The flames bursting out of Lei Chenghu’s eyes were almost condensed into magma. He said sincerely, “Why have I never noticed such an extraordinary person as Fellow Cultivator Li before? If you were not in the royal palace but in the frontline, you would’ve made great accomplishments as a pillar that supported the Imperium!”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Li Linghai smiled. “Just like what Fellow Cultivator Lei said just now, it is possible to accomplish something great even if one is in the royal palace, right?”

Lei Chenghu smiled too. He went back to the topic. “Then, where will the operation end? I believe that the Imperium, which is too sick and also threatened by external enemies, is not suitable for a gigantic surgery. As long as we wipe out part of the enemies in the Council of Elders with high-precision attacks and make the remaining elders change their minds so that the base of the expedition army will be kept and intensified, our preliminary purpose will be reached.”

“Yes. The four Kurfürst families are too deeply rooted after all. We cannot wage a war at them at the same time. Therefore, even if our slogan is to Honor the Majesty and Settle the Rebellions, it is inappropriate to decry all of them to be ‘rebellions’.”

Li Linghai said, “We have only three simple purposes.

“Firstly, Dongfang Wang, the current Prime Minister of the Imperium, as well as his cabinet, must resign.

“Secondly, Fellow Cultivator Lei will be appointed as the commander of the expedition army and nominated as an elder of the Imperium. You will also be allowed to regroup the expedition army according to your will.

“Thirdly, His Majesty must return to the royal palace, with the honor and glory that His Majesty deserves!

“As for the future plans, we can discuss them after we have the advantage in the Council of Elders.”

Lei Chenghu’s eyes pierced through the glittering map of the Imperium. Under the illumination of the thousands of stars, they were already too deep to be measured.

“As you wish, Your Grace. I am willing to pledge loyalty to Your Grace and die for the great cause of the reformists!”

Lei Chenghu rose suddenly and performed a textbook “unity etiquette” to Li Linghai. Because of the missing arm, his action was particularly brutal and aggressive. He said, “In half a day, I will clean everything up in the Godly Might Prison and bring away the important persons. Then, I will return to the Third Battle Area in the frontline to summon my fleet.

“Right now, I am still the commander of the Third Battle Area and the highest commander of the Astounding Thunder Fleet. Even if the Council of Elders intends to dismiss me, it will still take some time, which will be enough for me!”

“Thank you for your trouble, General… No, Commander Lei.”

Li Linghai changed her mode of address too. “The Imperium will not forget your contributions. You will become the greatest soldier of the Imperium of True Human Beings in the past thousand years. The safety of me and His Majesty, as well as the future of billions of people, will lie in your hands!

“Right now, the situation in the Third Battle Area is treacherous. The fleets of the four Kurfürst families are monitoring you from nearby. Should they learn the fall of the Godly Might Prison, they might do something outrageous. Do you need my fleet to escort you to go back?”

“That will be unnecessary. The Godly Might Fleet will be enough.”

Lei Chenghu grinned. “I can return to the Third Battle Area with one accurate jump. That is my territory. Nobody can do anything to me!”

“Fine. In that case, I will input all the battle information into the crystal processor. We will contact each other through the super remote confidential communication channels in the future.”

Li Linghai said, as if it were not a big deal, “To ensure the smooth communication between us, please bring a liaison officer with you, Commander Lei. Now that you are already familiar with Vulture Li Yao, and the two of you seem to get along rather well, why don’t you take him with you? Should you run into an accident, he can also protect your safety, right?”

Lei Chenghu frowned hard and stared at Li Yao for a long time.

He did not turn down Li Linghai’s “kindness” but simply nodded his head in acknowledgment.