Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Even a Nascent Soul Stage expert like Yan Chenghua was shocked by Lei Chenghu’s matter-of-fact declaration, which was made despite being surrounded by hundreds of personal guards. It was not until a long time later that he finally realized what was going on. With a face that was so gloomy that it was almost raining, he gnashed his teeth. “Is this some kind of joke, Marquis Liaohai?”

He seemed eager to lunge forward and catch Lei Chenghu.

But when Li Yao stared at him from Lei Chenghu’s back with a pair of unpredictable eyes, he felt that his internal organs were stabbed by ice spears. He couldn’t help but cry and wonder where Lei Chenghu found such a great expert to help him.

“Are you still unable to see through the situation, Fellow Cultivator Yun?”

Unhurriedly, Lei Chenghu moved forward to Yun Chenghua, warden of the Godly Might Prison. “The very fact that I’m standing before you right now is evident enough that the Godly Might Prison has been greatly infiltrated, and it was no secret at all that I was kept in custody here!

“Since half a month ago, the news that I was here has already been spread out. Right now, the special mixed troop made of the members of the Astounding Thunder Fleet and the royal guards loyal to the queen are ripping apart the four-dimensional space and jumping to the Mystic Ice Sector. They are about to launch a destructive strike on the Godly Might Fleet!

“Trust me. Now that we have decided to take the gamble, it is impossible that we will lose!

“It is needless to mention the riots caused by the captives of the Covenant Alliance deep inside the Godly Might Prison. The suppression of the riots alone will waste ninety percent of your strength. What can you count on to resist the scourge of the Astounding Thunder Fleet and the royal guards? Or rather, do you want to resist to the end and be destroyed together with the Godly Might Prison?

“Hehe. Even if you are pigheaded enough to remain loyal to the four Kurfürst families, think about the soldiers, guards, and jailors outside. Are you asking so many people to die a meaningless death?

“I swear by the name of ‘God of War’ that if I cannot leave the place openly today, the entire planet will turn into an ocean of fire. The glaciers that have been frozen for ten thousand years will simmer, and everybody here, both the jailors and the prisoners, will die together with me!

“Fellow Cultivator Yun, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people are now in your hands. Do you still think that I’m joking?”

After every question Lei Chenghu raised, he made a step forward and crashed at the warden like a mountain ten thousand meters tall.

Warden Yun Chenghua, being an expert in the Nascent Soul Stage, had a combat ability higher than Lei Chenghu right now. But he was still sweating hard under the man’s aggressive posture.

“The Astounding Thunder Fleet and the royal guards loyal to the queen?”

Yun Chenghua rolled his eyes hard. “It’s… It’s impossible…”

“You will understand if it is possible very soon.”

Lei Chenghu said coldly, “If it weren’t for the future that a lot of innocent people would die when the great army arrive, why would I have bothered to come here to persuade you to surrender on my own? I could’ve hidden myself deep inside the Godly Might Prison while waiting for an opportunity to get away!

“This is the last opportunity for so many people of the Godly Might Prison, including yourself. I am not so lenient every time. Try to make a judicious decision, Fellow Cultivator Yun.

“In my opinion, even if you want to remain loyal to the four Kurfürst families, you wouldn’t have a chance to. Look at the rampant captives of the Covenant Alliance on the light beam who have almost burned half of the Godly Might Prison to the ground. This is a tragedy that has never happened to the dozens of wardens during the hundreds of years after the Godly Might Prison was established, but it has happened in your term.

“Somebody must be responsible for such a serious riot and prison break. Even if they are not sentenced to death, they will definitely be greatly punished. Who else can take the blame if not you, Fellow Cultivator Yun, as warden of the prison?

“You are an expert in the Nascent Soul Stage with dual talents. The appointment of you as the warden of the Godly Might Prison was sort of a punishment in the first place. If you take such a huge blame again, you won’t have any hope to rise again in the system of the four Kurfürst families.

“Not just you, there are also your personal guards, who are so loyal to you that they are bold enough to aim their guns at us when they know that a battle-type Divinity Transformation Stage expert is standing behind me. Tsk, tsk, tsk. They are all the best warriors, but it is a pity that they have a terrible leader. They will suffer for decades in the land of bitterness and desolation together with you, or be wasted meaninglessly as cannon fodder!”

Yun Chenghua couldn’t have looked more awful. His hands, where veins were protruding, grabbed the saber on his waist tightly, and he could chop off Lei Chenghu’s throat after a slight wave. But he could not unsheathe his weapon at all.

“Fellow Cultivator Yun, you know very clearly that everything I said is true. The job as the warden of the Godly Might Prison is one on the crater of a volcano in the first place. It is meant to take blames for other people.”

Lei Chenghu said casually, “If I were indeed killed miserably in the Godly Might Prison today, the local troops, including the Astounding Thunder Fleet, would certainly burst into fury when the news was out. Then, the four Kurfürst families would have to catch a few scapegoats to appease the public. Whose head do you think will be best to prevent the warlords from complaining anymore? Yours, Fellow Cultivator Yun!

“Therefore, since the moment I was sent to the Godly Might Prison, whether or not an accident happened to me, you would certainly take the blame in the end. To think that you are still working for the four Kurfürst families so dutifully!”

Yun Chenghua’s pale face blushed, and his veins that were as thick as earthworms surfaced, cramping violently.

His personal guards around also fell silent, with panic and confusion flashing in their eyes.

“The greatest reason why the Imperium has walked to the dead end today is that it cannot make the best use of talents and resources!”

Lei Chenghu continued, “An expert in the Nascent Soul Stage with dual talents in battle and administration, leading hundreds of loyal, tough soldiers, would’ve conquered dozens of planets after a decade of fighting if they were under my command. There would’ve been too many glittering medals for him to wear on his chest!

“But in the past decade, I hardly heard the name ‘Yun Chenghua’. Perhaps you will remain unknown in the next hundred years. I really feel pitiful for the hotblooded men like you and your warriors!”

“S-Stop it!”

Yun Chenghua drew half of his saber out of the sheath from his waist. His eyes bloodshot as if filled with blood. He gnashed his teeth and asked, “Marquis Liaohai, what are you trying to do exactly?”

Li Yao stared at Yun Chenghua’s saber tightly; his eyes so sharp that they were almost stabbing two holes on the edge of the blade.

Lei Chenghu, however, did not bother to look at the coldly-shining saber at all. He simply continued staring at Yun Chenghua with earnest and passionate eyes as he extended his only arm to the man and said, one word after another, “The Imperium today is exactly like the Godly Might Prison right now. It is in a moment of life and death. Lead all the ardent men under your command who crave to accomplish something and rescue the Imperium together with me. The Imperium needs you to make the right choice right now!”

“Well…”

Yun Chenghua’s face was gloomy and unsteady, but his half-drawn saber stopped in midair. He asked solemnly, “Even if you can conquer the Godly Might Prison, so what? What are you going to do in the next step?”

“As soon as the Godly Might Prison is conquered, there will be a whole set of consecutive plans waiting to be activated until we can make our own choice or even take our own place in the Council of Elders. The fewer prices we pay in the conquest of the Godly Might Prison, the greater the odds of success will be in the next phase. Therefore, your role is of paramount importance!”

Lei Chenghu suddenly turned his eyes to Yun Chenghua’s side and changed the topic, “However, our strength is much higher than your imagination. Our fellow Cultivators can be found in all the critical posts in the entire Imperium, including those within the Godly Might Prison. Why else do you think my rescue forces have come so fast?

“Opportunities only knock once. I don’t have time to talk sense into you. If you remain obstinate, tremendous other people will replace you and cooperate with us pleasantly!”

Yun Chenghua was greatly awed. He was completely caught in Lei Chenghu’s pace and even adjusted his breath and heartbeat according to Lei Chenghu.

His eyes also looked at his right side, where Lei Chenghu was looking at.

It was Luo Wenyao, the deputy warden, who was standing behind him on his right side.

Under the stare of Lei Chenghu’s scorching eyes, Luo Wenyao’s breath was disrupted, and his face was unnatural, as if he were under tremendous pressure.

Yun Chenghua immediately sensed the subtle changes of his deputy.

Thinking of the guy’s stealthy behaviors earlier, he was greatly alarmed.

Right then, Lei Chenghu suddenly bulged his eyes and bellowed, “Do it!”

The pitiful Luo Wenyao, although having been bought over by Li Linghai a long time ago with a promise of great rewards to help with the rescue of Lei Chenghu, never thought to attack the warden in person.

He was extremely nervous because of his secrets in the first place, and the mini storm bolter close to his thigh cramped beyond his control.

Under Lei Chenghu’s unexpected bellow, he drew his gun out of natural instincts. But he was at a loss about what Lei Chenghu meant after he took out the gun.

Yun Chenghua, on the other hand, had noticed what was happening behind him under the guidance of Lei Chenghu’s eyes.

His nerves were even keener than those of a shocked bird, and his saber had been half drawn in the first place. Now that he sensed his deputy had taken out the gun, the alarms in his head turned into shrieks. The saber was unsheathed as quickly as a flash of lightning and swirled backward, and the massive spiritual energy of the Nascent Soul Stage spurted out crazily, concentrating into invincible blade auras that brushed past Luo Wenyao’s wrist that had just drawn the storm bolter and then went upward to his neck.

Deputy Warden Luo Wenyao immediately turned rigid. Two narrow and long bloody marks appeared on his wrist and his neck, and his eyes bulged out like those of a dead fish.

Huchi! Huchi! Huchi! Huchi!

Yun Chenghua, the warden, breathed heavily. The seemingly plain attack cost too much of his strength.

Lei Chenghu, however, was absolutely still. He did nothing except for roaring “do it”.

Li Yao was still standing behind Lei Chenghu, with the four black crystals hovering around him slowly, ready to fill in at any moment. His mission was to protect Lei Chenghu. Luo Wenyao’s safety was naturally not his concern. Besides, he did not expect Lei Chenghu to play such a moment, and how could he have enough time to stop a Nascent Soul Stage expert’s intuitional attack?

Most importantly of all—

Neither Yun Chenghua, Luo Wenyao, or Li Yao knew what Lei Chenghu meant at all!