Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Jin Xinyue’s voice was as cold as a frigid blizzard, lowering the temperature of the entire warehouse by dozens of degrees.

However, the crimson flames of spiritual energy around Ding Lingdang were still flowing out incessantly like unstoppable magma.

When she stared at Jin Xinyue, there was no anger but deep sorrow in her eyes. “Do you not understand, Jin Xinyue? Your clandestine approaches, your blood and violence, will never resolve the problems fundamentally even if they can achieve something temporarily!”

From the moment they met, Jin Xinyue had been at ease, and she had controlled the pace of their conversation tightly, but she was utterly dumbfounded by Ding Lingdang’s remark.

The delicate makeup and perfect smile on the saintess of demons’ face were frozen before they split apart and were replaced by a genuine expression of disbelief and amusement.

“Did—did I hear it right? My masteress, the Valkyrie of the federation, told me that you can’t solve a problem with violence?” Jin Xinyue bulged her beautiful eyes to the maximum and examined Ding Lingdang for a long time. “There are only two possibilities, Masteress. Either your brain was damaged in the prolonged hibernation in the past century, or you are not Ding Lingdang at all but a certain ‘duplicate’ that the Imperium of True Human Beings subbed in.

“Hehe. Violence can’t solve problems. So, how did we conquer the Uranian Ring Sector under your lead? By wholehearted persuasion, like what you are doing to me right now?”

“Yes. The Uranian Ring Sector was indeed conquered by force. I do not regret what I did in the Uranian Ring Sector, nor do I object to the war.” Ding Lingdang sighed, but softness completely different from a hundred years ago appeared on her face. “However, I do feel sorrowful for some things that happened during the war.

“If there was a slim chance at all, I wouldn’t have launched such a war and killed so many people or allowed myself to be praised as the ‘God of War’!”

Obvious disdain beamed out of Jin Xinyue’s face.

“Don’t be hasty. Just hear me out,” Ding Lingdang said solemnly. “A hundred years ago, before I entered the prolonged hibernation, I had never considered any philosophical questions but took violence for an ultimate solution to all problems driven by my instincts.

“However, in the past hundred years, I woke twice in the middle of the prolonged hibernation and lived… two new lives in the Nether World Sector and the Uranian Ring Sector.

“I met a lot of people and experienced a lot of things in the journey of the new worlds where I seemed to be reborn. I also witnessed too much blood and destruction.

“To save the two worlds, and to save the federation, I began to think. The result of my thinking is that I’ve realized it is more important to know when not to use violence than to know when to use it.

“Just like what your master did a hundred years ago. In terms of combat ability, he wasn’t the strongest in the three Sectors. During the assimilation of the three Sectors, he did not resort to violence to solve all the problems, either!”

“Of course not.” Jin Xinyue smiled. “Other than violence, he also used a lot of sordid tricks that fooled many people!”

Ding Lingdang was lost for words. She was dazed for a moment before she replied, “I would like you to consider it carefully, Jin Xinyue. After having developed to this day, the Star Glory Federation has already reached the ‘limits of violence’ with the seven Sectors it has. If our purpose is not just to dominate the edge of the cosmos but to fulfil our destiny for all mankind, it is impossible for us to conquer all three thousand Sectors with violence!

“Even if we do conquer them, the boundlessness of the universe itself means that we cannot govern them for long with violence and tyranny!

“The Imperium of True Human Beings intends to govern the hundreds of Sectors in its territory with violence and tyranny, but not every emperor boasts the wisdom and strength of Blackstar the Great. As the authority of the crown declines, the experts of the subordinate worlds will come up with their own plans and fight each other for benefits. The Black Wind Fleet will be the best example!

“The Alliance of the Holy Covenant wants to deprive everyone of their emotions and turn them into pure tools, but humans are not tools. More and more people are bound to be awakened from the swamp of the ‘Ultimate Path of Benevolence’. The reign of the Covenant Alliance cannot last long, either!

“What about the federation? We have the national treasure that is a ‘grand-unified Spiritual Nexus’, but the construction and maintenance of the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus cost astronomical resources, and it is susceptible to cosmic storms. Also, as the distance increases, the cost will rise exponentially!

“Seven Sectors are already the limits of the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus under the current development level of our civilization!

“Let me ask you, in the near future, when we raise our flag and march toward the center of the cosmos, how much violence will we need to conquer and govern the worlds there?

“No. The most precious things in the federation are not our violence, schemes, and tricks but our ideology and our purest path of the Cultivators. We defend the ordinary people, we defend justice, and we defend everyone’s peaceful life and beautiful home!

“Even the most advanced starship cannot cross the universe instantly, but once an ideology spreads out like fire, it is impossible to ignite the hundreds of the Sectors at the center of the cosmos in only a few years!

“As for you, you may call what you did in the past decades a means to an end, but you have greatly stained our ideology with you act! In years to come, when we truly march to the center of the cosmos, such a stain may pronounce the efforts of so many Cultivators in vain!”

“In years to come?” Jin Xinyue chuckled. “With the imminent scourge of the Black Wind Fleet right before us, let’s solve the crisis through ‘dirty approaches’ before we invite you to preach on your noble ‘ideology’, Masteress!

“If this is all you want to talk about today, it is truly a great waste of our precious time. May I leave now, Masteress?”

“Wait!” Looking at Jin Xinyue who was turning around to leave, Ding Lingdang said, “I will ask you one last thing. It’s about the explosion in the ‘Jade Dust Mines’!

“The explosion was the greatest terror attack with the most victims in the history of the federation, done by the CFIA. Lu Qingchen became the most wanted criminal of the federation because of that, too!

“Alright. I’ll say that everything you did when you supervised the ‘Dim Moon Fund’ and your indulgence of the insurgence on Firefly were in the gray area of our ‘boundaries’, but what about this one?

“Lu Qingchen committed such an inhumane, insane felony, and the innocent victims included a lot of your demon compatriots. In order to build up your personal influence, or maybe because you were confident in manipulating him, did you stay in touch with him and try to make use of him?”

Jin Xinyue halted and turned around. Her face turned extremely mysterious and cold. “As I said, Masteress, everything we chatted about just now is an ‘assumption’. I never admitted that Lu Qingchen worked for me.”

Ding Lingdang sneered, “Alright. That’s fine. I’m going to investigate it, with the Patriots Front and all the resources at my disposal, until I reach the bottom of the matter. I will seek justice for the 35,527 unrested souls in the Jade Dust Mines and find out the true criminal behind Lu Qingchen!”

Jin Xinyue’s voice grew calmer, but the killing intent in her eyes became more intense. “Masteress, must you turn us against each other? Look at yourself. Rash, reckless, and childish. Are you ‘Speaker of the Federation’ material at all? Something will happen to you… if you run about like an angry bull.”

“Are you threatening me?” Ding Lingdang laughed in fury. “I’m very curious about one thing. Although people called me ‘God of War’, I know that it is just a compliment because I happened to help federation find two new worlds.

“You, on the other hand, have always kept a low profile. You were a saintess adept at infiltration and assassination and an expert in the demon king stage a hundred years ago. You never hibernated in the past hundred years but fought in the most dark, dangerous frontline the whole time. I’m told that you also gathered the secret techniques of many new worlds.

“Jin Xinyue, how strong are you right now? I would very much like to find out as your masteress!”

Faced with Ding Lingdang’s ever-expanding spiritual energy that was almost tangible, Jin Xinyue smiled and, combing her hair that was messed by Ding Lingdang’s auras, replied, “As I recall, somebody just said ‘violence can’t solve problems’ three minutes ago. Is this why they say it is easier to change the world than to change one’s nature?”

Ding Lingdang smiled, too. “Fair enough. Then, let’s compete in the battlefield for the Speaker of the Federation!”

“Then you will be even more hopeless, Masteress!” Jin Xinyue yawned and said, “With all due respect, and please don’t be mad, Masteress, but I don’t know why you are running for it even now. You don’t appear to be someone who doesn’t know herself!”

“If you want to know, I’ll tell you.” Ding Lingdang strode forward until she was only one meter away from Jin Xinyue. “I ran for it because of you at first. I only came up to highlight you!”

Jin Xinyue rolled her eyes. “Oh?”

“There is some friction and contradiction between the core worlds and the new ones. Nobody can deny that,” Ding Lingdang declared resolutely. “Only I can talk the people of the new worlds into supporting you after I lose the campaign so that you can control all the resources of the seven Sectors and resist the Black Wind Fleet!

“No candidates except me boast such influence that can help you stabilize the four new worlds quickly without leaving any chance for the Black Wind Fleet.

“That was my original goal. Hehe. You didn’t see it coming, did you? I was only showing up as a ‘green leaf’ to help you stabilize the situation and concentrate the strength so that you could be the toughest ‘wartime Speaker’ in centuries!

“After all, I thought that you had your boundaries as a Cultivator despite your ambitions, treachery, and lust for power! I thought I should believe in Li Yao and trust you and unite the federation with the strength of both of us!

“But right now…

“I’ve changed my mind. You don’t deserve to be the Speaker of the Federation. The only place suitable for you is a prison!

“Let me tell you. An independent persecution group made of thirty persecutors has been established to investigate the relationship between the Dim Moon Fund and the CFIA.

“Let’s see if you can persist for another month. Jin Xinyue, take care!”

While talking, Ding Lingdang walked past Jin Xinyue toward the gate of the warehouse without looking back.

She was like a cluster of angry magma flowing past a cold block of ice, unwilling to spend another second with the other person.

“Ding Lingdang!” There was finally fury and frustration in Jin Xinyue’s voice. She even stopped using the formal title. “Don’t think that you are qualified to be the Speaker of the Federation after you get rid of me. A bull who has more brawns than brains such as yourself doesn’t even deserve to be a mayor. You will ruin the federation!”

“Whatever the battlefield is…” Ding Lingdang’s voice drifted close from outside the warehouse like rumbling thunder on the ceiling. “I will win as long as I want to!”

Ding Lingdang left like a storm.

Jin Xinyue was left alone in the empty, abandoned warehouse in the black leather coat.

However, if Ding Lingdang had not left but turned invisible and stopped in front of Jin Xinyue, she would have noticed that when the saintess of demons bellowed ‘Ding Lingdang’ in rage, there was not the slightest anger on her face.

Instead, it was brimming with… a clever smile, like a fox that had just stolen a fish.

“What a silly masteress.” Jin Xinyue yawned again and mumbled to herself, “Still, she is quite adorable in her own way.”