Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

If the Heaven’s Origin Sector could be compared to a sphere that extended outwardly, Xiao Ming and Wen Wen had chosen the side that was furthest from the battlefield and had the fewest starships of the federation and the Imperium in order to slowly develop their whole new bodies.

On the opposite side of the sphere that was far, far away from them, in the past three months and the three months to come, countless pursuits, escapes, murders, explosions, plots, betrayals, surrenders, and relentless resistances took place incessantly. The radiance of the exploding starships even eclipsed the stars in the entire universe.

After half a year of cruising, or rather, fleeing in panic, ‘Sirius’, an arsenal warship of the Imperium, had completely become a stray dog.

Most of the bullets of spiritual energy had been shot out a long time ago. All that was left behind were the empty magazines that looked like beehives.

The dense turrets were lying on all sides, too. Some of them had even been twisted into spirals after being launched in an overloaded state time and time again.

The super-alloy plate armor was mottled in different colors. Craters from explosions and holes from meteoroids could be found in many places. The ugly, ununified color on the shell of the starship almost made it look like a wild dog suffering from dermatitis.

Together with the spiritual shield that was as lackluster as any spiritual shield could be, as well as the exhaust flames that were spurting intermittently as if the starship were a coughing asthmatic patient, it was the most wretched appearance of the enormous starship that had once been magnificent and dominating.

The probe magical equipment, the localization magical equipment, and the super remote communication system were all seriously damaged, making it impossible for them to figure out where they were or to reach out to other ‘stray dogs’ around in order to regroup into a functional fleet.

The space jump devices were having faults, too, and were in the middle of urgent maintenance. But even if they were entirely renewed, they were still short of the energy necessary to power the space jump devices.

Even if they could loot enough energy, where could they possibly jump to?

It was the common situation for not just ‘Sirius’ but also the thousands of starships of the Imperium that were unwilling to surrender even to this moment and still drifting in the sea of stars.

On the bridge of Sirius, which was an utter mess, the lights were particularly dim, and the light beams were twisting and bouncing crazily as if they had been ignited. Occasionally, a few light beams in the corner would end up being completely fading after flickering intensely for a while, losing all their functions.

The bridge was filled with a lifeless air. A third of the workstations were empty. Suspicious spots that appeared to be blood mixed with brains lingered on the floor. Everybody passing in and out of the bridge was like a zombie waiting for their death in silence.

Boom!

A suspicious explosion echoed at the rear of the starship and crashed against the gate of the bridge incessantly like the dull tides of an ocean. The light beams flashed crazily. The several hundred parameters that represented the power of Sirius plummeted as if they had fallen from a cliff.

The captain of Sirius was a standard warrior of the Imperium and an Immortal Cultivator at the peak of the Core Formation Stage. He was tall and brawny with hollowed eyes and a high nose, surrounded by a majestic vibe like a classic statue.

However, even such a loyal and determined captain of the Imperium, after seeing another shocking explosion in the engine compartment, could do nothing but narrow his bloodshot eyes from which fury and discontent were beaming out.

Very soon, the manager of the engine compartment and the chief mate, who had both been stained by oil with their hair and eyebrow burnt, arrived at the bridge, half running and half crawling.

“Reporting, captain, another serious explosion took place in the engine compartment. The No. 4 and No. 5 engine units have been completely wrecked. Even the No. 6 engine unit is slightly affected, too. By our preliminary estimation, we have lost another 13.5% of our drive. Not only is it impossible for us to increase the speed of normal cruise now, the support on the spiritual shield and the defense force field has been greatly lowered!”

“Is that so?” The captain smiled gloomily and asked, “What about the casualties?”

“Because of the timely reaction, the casualties are not grave,” the manager of the engine compartment replied. “Only three slave soldiers were killed.”

“Only three?” the captain said casually. “In that case, select another hundred slave soldiers from the engine compartment and execute them as examples for other people!”

“Well…”

The manager of the engine compartment and the chief mate were both stunned. Looking at each other in bewilderment, they did not know what to say.

“You still don’t see what’s going on, dumbasses?” The captain burst into fury and bashed the control panel like a crazy fiend. “The explosion was so serious that two of my main engine units were wasted, yet it only killed three slave soldiers? How is that possible? Usually, accidents of such a scale mean the death of at least thirty to fifty slave soldiers. Did all the other slave soldiers have a premonition?

“It’s very simple. The cowardly slave soldiers and the hominoids who are humbler than swine must’ve been behind it. They intentionally played tricks on the engine compartment so that we would slow down and get caught by the army of the federation!

“Did you not read the propaganda of the federation? Do you not know that all the hominoids and slave soldiers on our starship were simmering with impatience? They have all been fooled by the federation. They have forgotten the glory of the Imperium and the civilization of mankind. They have forgotten their sacred duty as ‘fuel’!

“Those filthy untouchables think that they can change themselves into the upper class after they surrender to the federation!

“They have been conspiring on the starship for a long time. Do you really think that I’m a dead person who knows nothing about it? No. I only want to find their leader and fish them up once and for all!

“But it does not mean that I will tolerate their sabotage and sluggishness. No. Never!

“We have to repair the engine units and the space jump magical equipment as soon as possible and find a way to get enough fuel. Perhaps a hundred bodies of their own kind will be enough to make them realize what they are exactly!

“Besides, our starship is in the middle of a food crisis. Even the daily consumptions of the Immortal Cultivators cannot be met. There is no need to keep so many swine that waste our food on our starship. It will suffice to keep their population at the lowest level that can ensure the normal functions of the starship.

“Go now. After the execution and presentation, freeze the bodies in case we need them one day.”

The coldness between the lines of the captain even chilled the chief mate and the manager of the engine compartment, who were also Immortal Cultivators.

After a brief silence, the chief mate walked further and said in a low voice, “Captain, regarding the message we heard from Green Island, which said that a fairly large fleet had gathered around Green Island, and all the starships of the Imperium were to join it immediately…”

“There is no need to discuss the issue anymore. It’s just a trap,” the captain remarked, his eyes bloodshot. “Chief Mate Fang, both you and Manager Qin are from the Black Wind Sector. You are both the most rightful natives of the Black Wind Fleet. Naturally, you consider the life of the Black Wind Fleet as the highest interest.

“But in case you forget, almost half of the people on our starship and in the entire Black Wind Fleet are not from the Black Wind Sector but the four smaller worlds that were swallowed by us.

“Do you really think that the Immortal Cultivators from the four smaller worlds will still be loyal to the Black Wind Fleet and the Imperium when we are dead for sure?

“Hehe. Everything was obvious after we analyzed the battle in hindsight. The branch fleets from the four smaller worlds collapsed first, which led to the meltdown of the entire battle formation!

“Later, a lot of the starships from the four smaller worlds were even shameless enough to surrender to the barbarians of the Star Glory Federation. Was it not elaborated in the propaganda of the federation?

“Green Island, as a comprehensive supply starship, is from the Fiery Spider Sector, one of the four smaller worlds. More than seventy percent of the crew members are from the Fiery Spider Sector. I don’t trust them. Who knows if they have surrendered to the federation and are merely attracting all of us into the cage of the federation?

“Maybe they haven’t surrendered to the federation yet because they are short of something to prove their sincerity. They are going to trade the heads of the warriors of the Black Wind Fleet for their future in the federation!

“Leave them be. We must find a way to repair our facilities and jump to the back of the No. 94532 brown dwarf to join the main troops. Or, we can directly jump back to the homeland of the Imperium!”

“Yes, sir!”

Chief Mate Fang and Manager Qin both stood at attention and saluted him in the most standard way.

The two of them were about to leave the bridge when a soldier suddenly exclaimed from his workstation.

The chief mate ran close and shouted in shock, too. “Reporting, captain, a starship of our army has been discovered three hundred light seconds from us. Judging from the spiritual waves, it should be a shield starship!”

“Excellent!” The captain rose up quickly, his eyes shining. “Approach the shield starship and send out distress signals. Then, knock it down unexpectedly. We will get enough materials for maintenance and fuel for us to implement a super remote space jump!”

“That’s right, Captain. Please take a look…”

Chief Mate Fang made a ‘please’ gesture. Manager Qin of the engine compartment did not leave but followed the captain.

Not having any suspicion, the captain moved his head at the light beam.

Right then, abrupt changes took place!

Chief Mate Fang and Manager Qin took action at the same time. The few soldiers on their workstations lunged over, too. More soldiers were watching coldly from afar. Somebody even shut the gate of the bridge, preventing the outside world from knowing what was going on inside the bridge.

“Argh!” the captain roared ear-splittingly.

But it was of little use. As a captain, he dedicated most of his time and energy to the administration of the starship. Despite his Cultivation being at the peak of the Core Formation Stage, he was an admin-type Immortal Cultivator.

The chief mate, on the other hand, was responsible for the deck floor and had to fly out of the starship with the assault team to kill the enemy. His combat ability was even slightly higher than the captain’s although his Cultivation was lower.

Also, he had the assistance of the manager of the engine compartment, who was also in the Core Formation Stage, as well as another few Immortal Cultivators who were adept at fighting. They had performed the ambush with all the attack and confining magical equipment prepared and taken the captain by surprise.

In the blink of an eye, five holes were burnt through the captain’s belly, and he was suppressed by barriers, tied up like a pig and tossed to the ground.

“Huchi… Huchi… Huchi…”

After they took down the captain, they seemed to have taken away a burden inside their hearts. They breathed hard to catch their breath, but when they looked at each other, their eyes were clearer and firmer, as if they were saying, “It’s finally over now.”